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^^-THE  CASE  OF-^ 


Jonties  |{eilc, 

|(st  k^in^s  ^iityrcs  ij^tl^, 

J|j[atl,  soli  s:q  billig  boircti  beetle. 


I 


THE  CASE  OF  WILLIAM  S.  CQLEMAH. 


Danville,  March  4th,  1878. 


To  Geo.  D.  Wise,  Esq.  : 


Attorney  for  the'Commonweath,  v 
for  the  City  of  Richmond.  ) 

Sir  : — Courts  and  juries — the  theory  is — may  sometimes  be  invoked  by  a 
citizen  for  his  own  vindication.  They  were  not  devised  exclusively  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  making  conviction,  under  the  forms  of  public  law,  the  inevitable  conse¬ 
quence  of  accusation,  under  the  motives  of  private  enmity ;  though  my  own 
experience  might  suggest  the  contrary.  But,  in  theory  at  least,  their  purpose, 
under  our  form  of  government,  is  a  nobler  one  than  that  merely  of  a  merciless 
avenger  ;  it  is  also  to  vindicate  the  innocent,  by  acquittal,  against  false  accusa¬ 
tions.  I  propose  to  test  this  theory  of  the  common  law  and  our  free  institutions, 
and  show  that  it  can  be  reduced  to  practice  here  in  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
and  her  capital  city  of  Richmond. 

To  that  end  1  address  this  communication  to  you,  sir,  as  the  prosecuting  at¬ 
torney  for  the  commonwealth,  and,  as  such,  peculiarly  the  representative  of  the 
majesty  of  the  LAW,  and  the  chosen  minister  of  justice. 

The  subject  to  which  I  invite  your  attention  is  stated  as  follows: 

At  the  beginning  of  the  late  session  of  the  general  assembly  the  second  audi¬ 
tor  of  the  commonwealth  made  a  communication  to  that  body  in  which  he  stated 
his  discovery  of  certain  frauds  against  the  commonwealth  by  means  of  funding  a 
second  time  certain  state  bonds  which  had  already  been  funded.  A  joint  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  general  assembly  was  raised  to  investigate  the  subject.  This  com¬ 
mittee  was  fully  invested  with  inquisitorial  powers ;  authorized  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers  ;  directed  to  ascertain  the  real  facts,  and  to  do  all  other  things 
in  the  premises,  necessary  .and  proper. 

Near  the  close  of  the  legislative  session  the  said  committee  submitted  its 
report,  which  was  printed  and  laid  before  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature.  It 
contains  a  considerable  amount  of  testimony,  taken  ex  parte  by  the  committee, 
embodies  a  summary  of  the  said  testimony  in  the  form  of  a  Report,  and  proposes 
1  resolution  to  the  general  assembly,  conditionally  instructing  the  attorney  general 
:o  take  steps  to  recover  the  money-  value  out  of  which  the  commonwealth  has 
eeen  defrauded.  As  the  committee,  however,  made  no  suggestion  touching  any 
ximinal  prosecution  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  it  was  left  to  the  grand  jury  of  the 
dustings  Court  of  Richmond  city  to  take  cognizance  ot  the  matter  in  its  criminal 
ispect ;  the  crime  having  been  committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that  court. 

But  the  grand  jury  have  found  no  indictment  against  anybody  ;  nor,  so  far  as 
have  been  able  to  learn,  have  they  made  any  inquisition  into  the  matter.  But 
ertain  calumnious  reports  have  been  circulated,  and  were  published  in  the  public 
>rints,  connecting  my  name  with  the  frauds  aforesaid  and  falsely  imputing  to  me 
participation  in  them. 


2 


Now,  therefore,  I  do  hereby  invoke  you  as  the  prosecuting  officer  of  the 
Hustings  Court  of  Richmond  city  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  grand  jury  of  the 
said  court  to  this  subject,  and  if  there  be  any  evidence  implicating  me  in  the  said 
frauds,  let  me  be  indicted  and  tried.  I’ll  promise  you  that,  if  indicted,  I’ll  not 
plead  non  compos  mentis ,  nor  make  any  other  special  plea,  but  meet  the  charge  in 
open  court  upon  the  square  issue  of  the  facts.  I’ll  ask  no  favor  but  a  fair  trial,  and 
seek  no  end  but  the  vindication  of  the  Truth. 

And  here  I  might  conclude  this  communication  and  await  your  action,  but 
the  subject  is  of  such  a  character  that  I  must  needs  address  you  in  a  public  man¬ 
ner,  and  the  occasion  warrants,  whilst  the  opportunity  invites,  a  reference  to  a 
former  occasion,  when  you  were  the  prosecutor  and  I  the  accused.  But  in  what  I 
shall  say  touching  the  same  and  all  connected  with  it,  it  is  my  patient  purpose,  to 
speak  “with  malice  towards  none — with  charity  for  all though,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  sequel,  I’ve  had  wrongs  which  might  excuse  some  bitterness. 

Many  of  the  facts  which  I  shall  relate  are  within  your  own  personal  knowledge  ; 
others  are  sustained  by  the  connection  in  which  I  shall  present  them,  and  all  the 
rest  are  susceptible  of  proof.  I  will  tell  only  “a  plain,  unvarnished  tale,”  though 
it  may  sound  like  an  ancient  romance,  and  would  seem  so  even  to  myself,  indeed,  1 
were  not  the  pain  and  anguish  so  wretchedly  real,  which  I  and  those  most  dear  to 
me  have  suffered  through  it.  Whether  the  general  public  will  feel  enough  interest 
in  my  story  to  read  it,  is  a  question  which  confronts  me  at  the  outset,  for  I  know  that 
public  apathy  to  private  griefs  is  discouragingly  proverbial.  In  the  rapid  whirl  of 
the  world’s  pursuits  the  fate  of  a  fellow-creature  is  soon  ffwgotten  ;  and  if  peculiar 
circumstances,  as  in  my  own  unhappy  case,  do  attract  a  transient  attention,  yet 
the  subject  soon  becomes — to  use  the  simile  which  La  Pucelle  applies  to  glory — 

“ - Like  a  circle  in  the  water 

Which  never  ceaseth  to  enlarge  itself, 

’Till  by  broad  spreading  it  disperse  to  nought.” 

And  yet  I  would  fain  hope  that  the  public  indifference  to  my  personal  fate  is 
not  as  strong  as  that  impulse  of  public  sentiment  which,  for  the  protection  of  so¬ 
ciety  itself,  shields  its  individual  members  against  wrong,  and  is  often  the  last  ref¬ 
uge  of  the  oppressed.  At  the  beginning  of  the  prosecution  against  me,  from 
which  I  have  suffered  so  much  wrong,  I  was  locked  up  in  jail  and  made  to  hold 
my  peace.  For  nearly  four  long  and  weary  years  since  I  have  been  made  to  suf¬ 
fer  the  hardships  and  humiliations  of  a  convict’s  life  for  a  crime  which  I  never 
committed;  and  during  all  the  dreary  days  and  nights  of  these  wretched  years 
silence  was  compulsorily  exacted  of  me  ;  my  custodians  being  specially  charged 
not  to  permit  anything  I  might  write  or  say  “to  get  into  the  papers.”  Although 
while  silence  was  thus  exacted  of  me,  the  governor  ol  the  commonwealth  repeat¬ 
edly  gave  to  the  public,  through  the  press,  a  one-sided  version  of  my  case  unques¬ 
tionably  calculated  to  affect  public  sentiment  to  my  disadvantage.  And  now  that 
at  last  I  am  at  liberty,  and  able,  to  raise  my  voice,  may  I  not  hope  to  be  heard  ? 

Even  the  noble  democracy  of  Athens  when  excited,  as  it  often  and  easily  was. 
was  violent  and  unjust ;  but  my  observation  of  the  People  of  Virginia  is  that 
although  they  too  are  excitable,  and  when  excited  are  violent  and  unjust,  yet  when 
they  have  taken  time  to  reflect,  their  impulses  are  sometimes  generous  and  generallyl 
just.  Upon  these  noble  traits,  as  well  as  upon  the  force  ot  truth  and  innocence,  I 
shall  rely  for  proper  interest  in  their  bosoms  and  for  my  vindication  in  their  judg-i 
ment. 

You  are  familiar,  Mr.  Wise,  with  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  I  need  not 
re-state  for  you  the  charge  on  which  I  was  tried.  But  for  those  who  have  never, 
known,  or  have  forgotten,  the  particulars  I  will  briefly  formulate  the  facts  by  stat- 


I  He  N.UWtJtt  UULLttl  iUN 


3 

ing  that  the  only  charge  upon  which  I  have  ever  been  arraigned  was  the  alleged 
erasure  of  a  single  figure  in  a  certain  entry  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking 
fund.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried.  I  insert 
it  here  for  present  information  and  for  future  reference  hereinafter. 

Virginia.— In  the  Hustings  Court  of  the  city  of  Richmond:  City  of  Richmond,  to  wit : — 

The  grand  jurors  of  the  Commonwealth,  for  the  body  of  the  city  of  Richmond,  on  their  oaths 
present  that  William. D.  Coleman,  on  the  31st  day  of  December,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-three,  was  secretary  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  the  said 
sinking  fund  having  been  authorized  and  created  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
approved  on  the  3jst  day  of  March,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one, 
and  that  the  said  William  D.  Coleman,  on  the  the  said  31st  day  of  December,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-three,  at  the  said  city,  and  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
said  Hustings  Court  of  the  city  of  Richmond,  having  acquired  possession,  in  some  manner  and 
by  some  means  to  the  grand  jurors  unknown,  of  a  certain  record,  the  same  then  and  there  being 
and  remaining  as  a  public  record  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  in  the  office  of  the  second 
auditor  thereof,  in  the  capitol  of  said  commonwealth  at  said  city  to  wit  :  the  warrant  book  of  the 
said  sinking  fund,  then  containing  an  entry  in  writing  in  the  words,  figures,  cyphers  and  letters 
following,  that  is  to  say  :  “1873,  Nov.  11,  by  warrant  No.  7,  to  Planters’  Nat’l  Bank,  for  purchase 
of  $18,100  of  Virginia  consolidated  bonds — $8,190.25,”  feloniously  did  forge  the  said  public  re¬ 
cord  by  then  and  there  feloniously,  falsely,  and  corruptly  erasing  the  figure  1  from  the  figures  and 
cyphers  18,100,  before  written  in  the  said  public  record,  which  figures  and  cyphers,  with  the  sign 
$,  next  preceding  them,  did,  before  such  forgery  and  erasure,  import  and  signify  eighteen  thous¬ 
and  one  hundred  dollars  ;  but  by  reason  and  means  of  such  forgery  and  erasure  did  become,  im¬ 
port  and  signify  eight  thousand  one  hundred  dollars,  which  said  false,  forged,  and  altered  entry 
in  writing  in  the  public  record  aforesaid  is  in  the  words,  figures,  cyphers,  and  letters  following, 
that  is  to  say  :  “1873,  Nov.  11,  by  warrant  No.  7,  to'Planters’  Nat’l  Bank,  for  purchase  of  $8,100 
of  Virginia  consolidated  bonds,  $8,190.25,”  with  intent  to  defraud,  against  the  peace  and  dignity 
of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia.” 

At  my  trial  upon  this  indictment,  as  the  judge  (Guigon)  before  whom  I  was 
tried,  himself,  afterwards  admitted  in  a  published  letter  to  the  governor,  I  would 
not  have  been  convicted  “  in  the  absence  of  Mayo’s  testimony.”  But  Mayo’s 
‘  testimony  ”  was  that  I  had  “  confessed  ”  the  fact  to  him,  and  Mayo  was  not 
orosecuted  for  the  larceny  of  public  funds,  for  which  he  was  indicted,  because  he 
vas  adjudged^  insane.  Now,  I  shall  show  herein,  besides  other  things,  that 
vhether  Mayo  was  insane  or  not,  his  “  testimony  ”  was  atrociously  7intrue. 

For  a  full  understanding  of  the  whole  case,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
mtecedent  circumstances  of  my  connection  with  the  sinking  fund  of  the  common- 
vealth,  and  the  transactions  thereof  prior  to  the  date  of  the  prosecution  against 
ne.  They  are  as  follows  : 

•  Early  in  July,  1871,  I  received  notification  that  I  had  been  elected  secretary 
ifthe  Board  of  Public  Works.  Previously  I  had  been  executive  clerk  by  appoint¬ 
ment  of  Hon.  Gilbert  C.  Walker,  then  governor  of  Virginia.  In  the  notification 
>f  my  election  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  I  was  informed  of  the 
ondition,  namely,  that  in  addition  to  the  duties  of  that  position,  I  should,  without 
dditional  compensation,  also  render  service  as  a  clerk  in  the  work  of  funding  the 
ublic  debt  (under  the  provisions  of  the  then  recently  enacted  “  funding  bill”)  in 
ie  office  of  the  second  auditor,  or  of  the  treasurer,  whichever  might,  from  time 
r  time,  require  my  services.  I  had  not  sought  this  position,  but  accepted  it,  and 
absequently  learned  that  it  was  tendered  me  at  the  instance  of  Gov.  Walker,  with 
view  to  economy  in  the  administration  of  the  state  government.  My  prede- 
-ssor  in  office  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  had  at  the  same  time 
;een  holding  office  as  a  clerk  in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  drawing  pay  for  each 
osition,  in  the  aggregate  amounting  to  more  than  the  salary  of  either  the  treas- 
-er  or  the  second  auditor.  And  as,  under  the  provisions  of  the  “  funding  bill,” 
Iditional  clerks  were  to  be  appointed  in  both  the  second  auditor’s  office  and  the 
easurer’s,  it  was  considered  expedient  to  relieve  Mr.  DeWitt  (my  predecessor, 


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4 


now  dead,)  from  duty  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  so  that  he  could 
devote  his  whole  time  to  his  duties  as  a  clerk  on  the  second  auditor’s  office.  For 
thereby  the  State  would  save  the  pay  of  one  “  additional  clerk  ”  in  the  funding 
of  the  public  debt ;  and  by  requiring  me  to  serve  as  a  clerk  in  the  said  work 
without  additional  pay  to  the  salary  of  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works, 
the  saving  by  the  new  arrangement  would  be  equal  to  the  pay  of  two  “  additional 
clerks.”  The  second  auditor  employed  four  “  additional  clerks  ”  in  his  office, 
but  the  treasurer  (Hon.  Geo.  Rye  was  then  treasurer,)  employed  none  ;  and  by 
his  request  I  performed  duty  as  a  clerk  in  the  treasury  office  in  the  work  of  fund¬ 
ing  the  public  debt,  until  a  few  weeks  before  he  was  superseded  in  office  by  the 
election  of  Col.  Jos.  Mayo,  jr.,  as  treasurer. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  notification  I  received  at  the  time  of  my  ap¬ 
pointment  : 

“  Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
Treasurer’s  Office, 
Richmond,  July,  3rd,  1S71. 

\V.  D.  Coleman,  Esq. 

Sir : — At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works  of  Virginia,  held  this  day,  you  are 
appointed  secretary  of  the  said  board,  to  date  from  1st  day  of  July  inst.  with  the  understanding 
that  when  you  are  not  engaged  in  the  duties  of  your  office  you  are  to  render  service  in  the 
treasurer’s  or  second  auditor’s  office  in  the  funding  of  the  public  debt,  in  whichever  office  you 
may  be  most  needed.  JNO.  S.  RADY, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  paper  bearing  on  the  subject  also  : 

“Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
Executive  Chambers, 
Richmond.  July  2nd,  1S71. 

Hon.  Geo.  Rye.  „ 

Dear  Sir.-  I  was  too  busy  on  Saturday  to  see  Mr.  Taylor.  I  wish  you  would  see  him  this 
a-  m.,  and  if  agreeable  to  him  and  yourself,  appoint  Mr.  Coleman  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Public  Works,  to  take  effect  the  1st  instant — with  the  distinct  understanding  that  when  not  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  duties  of  his  office,  the  secretary  is  to  render  service  in  the  treasurer’s  or  s.econd 
auditor  s  office  in  the  funding  of  the  public  debt,  in  whichever  office  he  may  be  most  needed. 
This  will  save  the  employment  of  at  least  one  extra  clerk  in  this  business.  The  Expenses  of  this 
funding  business  will  be  heavy  at  best,  and  I  deem  it  our  duty  to  save  wherever  we  can,  and  no 
one  man  should  fill  two  places.  In  haste.  Yours  Respectfully, 

G.  C.  WALKER.” 

This  paper  was  endorsed  as  follows  : 

“  I  concur, 

GEO.  RYE,  Treasurer.” 

“  In  view  of  the  expense  of  the  present  arrangement,  I  will  not  object  to  the  one  suggested  1 
by  the  governor  in  this  note. 

WM.  F.  TAYLOR,  Auditor. 

As  to  my  performance  of  the  duties  of  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Public 
v\  orks,  the  records  will  attest  my  faithfulness  and  efficiency,  and  there  has  never 
been  anything  alleged  against  me.  And  as  to  my  clerical  labor  in  the  treasurer's, 
office  in  the  funding  ol  the  public  debt,  it  has  all  been  found  absolutely  correct  in 
every  particular. 

In  the  latter  part  of  July  1871,  Hon.  Geo.  Rye.  then  treasurer,  informed  me 
that  the  commissioners  ol  the  sinking  fund,  under  the  provisions  of  the  “  funding 
bill  were  going  to  organize  pretty  soon  and  that  Mr.  De  Witt  was  seeking  the 
°.  ce  °*  secretary  to  them,  proposing  to  serve  for  a  salary  of  $3C>oa  year  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  Ins  pay  as  a  clerk  in  the  second  auditor’s  office.  Judge  Rye  said  he  thought 
that  both  Mr.  I  aylor  and  Gen.  Rogers  (who  together  with  himself  comprised 
the  commissioners  ot  the  sinking  fund)  were  going  to  vote  for  Mr.  De  Witt  at  the 
salary  named ;  but  that  he  did  not  think  the  state  ought  to  pay  such  a  salary  for 


little  work  as  would  be  required  of  a  secretary  for  the  sinking  fund  commis- 
iners  for  some  years  to  come  at  least.  At  his  further  suggestion  I  wrote  a  note 
oposing  to  serve  as  secretary  to  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  without 
y  compensation  further  than  I  was  then  receiving  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
iblic  Works.  He  took  charge  of  this  note  and  I  heard  nothing  more  about  the 
atter  until  the  2nd  ol  August,  when  I  was  sent  for  by  Hon.  Wra.  F.  Taylor, 
ditor  of  public  accounts.  On  entering  his  office  I  found  assembled  there,  with 
m,  Gen.  Asa  Rogers,  second  auditor,  and  Hon.  Geo.  Rye,  treasurer.  They  in- 
rmed  me  that  they  had  just  organized  as  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  ; 
,d  chosen  Mr.  Taylor  as  chairman,  and  had  elected  me  as  secretary  on  the  terms 
oposed  in  my  note  which  Mr.  Taylor  then  held  in  his  hand.  After  my  appear- 
ice  they  remained  together  but  a  few  minutes  longer  and  transacted  no  business 
ratever,  except,  in  an  informal  and  conversational  manner,  to  the  effect  of  an 
;reement  that  there  was  no  particular  business  then  to  transact,  the  meeting 
iving  been  held  for  organization  only.  I  made  a  memorandum  in  pencil  of  all 
ey  had  done  prior  to  my  appearance,  as  thereof  informed  by  them,  intending  to 
cord  the  same  in  a  journal  of  their  proceedings  as  soon  as  a  book  for  that  pur- 
ise  should  be  obtained. 

The  commissioners  never  held  any  meeting  after  that  until  called  together  by 
e  governor  on  the  5th  of  February  1874,  as  hereinafter  related.  The  manner 
which  the  business  of  the  sinking  fund  was  conducted  has  been  stated  in 
ridence  before  a  joint  committee  of  the  legislature,  and  printed  in  their  report, 
douse  Doc.  No.  6,  Session  of  1874,  pp.  19 ,  et  seq.~]  Whenever  purchases  ol 
mds  were  made  it  was  my  custom  to  draw  an  order  upon  the  second  auditor 
ithorizing  him  to  issue  his  warrant  upon  the  treasury  for  the  payment  of  the 
nount  of  the  purchase  money.  The  text  of  each  of  these  orders,  respectively, 
as  a  concise  statement  of  the  particulars  of  the  purchase  to  which  it  had  refer- 
ice.  It  authorized  and  requested  the  second  auditor  to  “  issue  his  warrant  upon 

e  treasury,  payable  out  of  the  sinking  fund,  for  the  sum  of  $ - in  favor  of 

.  B.  [the  seller],  on  account  of  the  purchase  of  $ - [the  face  value  of  the  bonds 

irehased]  of  Virginia  consolidated  bonds.”  This  order  was  delivered  to  the 
Her  of  the  bonds  on  his  delivering  the  bonds  purchased.  The  seller  of  the 
inds  then  took  this  order  to  the  second  auditor  who  thereupon  issued  his  war- 
nt  upon  th£  treasury  for  the  payment  ol  the  money.  Upon  receiving  the 
cond  auditor’s  warrant  for  the  money,  the  seller  of  the  bonds  had  to  execute  his 
ceipt  for  the  same,  which  receipt  was  written  at  the  bottom  of  the  order  he  had 
ought  to  the  second  auditor,  or  upon  the  reverse  side  of  it,  and  thus  became  a 
cal  part  of  the  same,  as  a  voucher  for  the  second  auditor  of  the  said  transaction, 
im  thus  particular  in  stating  these  details  because  they  prove  that  I  had  put  it 
;t  of  my  power  to  commit  any  fraud  upon  the  sinking  fund,  (even  il  disposed 
do  so)  without  the  actual  connivance  and  assistance  of  the  seller  of  the  bonds. 
:sides,  before  delivering  one  of  these  orders  to  the  seller  of  the  bonds,  it  was 
:  y  custom  to  show  it  (the  full  text  of  the  order)  to  at  least  two  of  the  commissioners 
1  the  sinking  lund,  and  every  one  of  them  had  to  pass  through  the  hands  of  the 
s  :ond  auditor  who  was  himself  one  of  the  said  commissioners. 

The  bonds  on  being  purchased  were  deposited  in  the  large  safe  in  the  treas- 
1  y  office,  but  before  being  so  deposited  were  counted  in  the  treasurer’s  presence 
;  d  placed  in  the  safe  by  his  own  hands,  or  by  his  direction  under  his  own  eyes. 
>  this  safe  I  had  no  more  access  than  anybody  else  about  the  capitol.  I  had  no 
1  y  and  could  not  get  into  it  except  when  opened  for  me  by  the  treasurer. 

At  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year,  a  report  of  the  operations  of  the  sinking 
1  id  was  submitted  to  the  legislature.  These  reports  were  all  prepared  by  me, 
i  :hout  assistance  from  any  one,  though  always  examined  and  approved  by  the 


L99146 


commissioners  before  transmission  to  the  legislature.  The  said  reports  are  no 
on  file  at  the  capitol ;  they  have  been  carefully  scrutinized  and  found  absolute! 
correct  in  every  particular. 

From  the  evidence  adduced  before  a  joint  committee  of  the  legislature  an 
printed  in  their  report,  to  which  I  have  above  referred  [House  Doc.  No.  6,  Se: 
sion  of  1874],  it  is  shown  that  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  paid  bt 
little  attention  to  their  duties,  and  that  the  transactions  of  business  entrusted  1 
them  by  law  were  conducted  in  a  very  loose  and  slipshod  manner.  But  sure! 
it  ought  not  to  be  contended  that  I  was  to  blame  for  their  negligence — though 
have  been  made  to  suffer  for  it. 

It  was  my  purpose  to  make  a  record  of  these  informal  transactions  of  th 
commissioners  as  soon  as  a  book  for  that  purpose  was  procured  ;  but  the  con 
missioners  never  made  any  order  authorizing  me  to  procure  such  a  book,  and 
do  not  think  I  am  to  blame  for  it  any  more  than  they  were. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  allowable  to  suggest  that  some  apology  for  the  neg 
ligent  manner  in  which  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  treated  their  dutit 
may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  at  the  passage  of  the  “  funding  bill,”  it  was  nc 
expected  that  the  business  of  the  sinking  fund  would  amount  to  much  at  an 
period  prior  to  the  year  1880,  at  which  date  the  “funding  bill”  provides  th; 
that  there  shall  be  levied  a  tax  equal  to  one  per  cent  upon  the  amount  of  th 
public  debt,  which  tax  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  the  sinkin 
fund.  It  was  generally  expected  that  the  active  operations  of  the  sinking  fun 
would  commence  with  the  receipt  of  the  revenue  from  this  tax,  and  in  th; 
expectation  but  little  attention  was  paid  by  anybody  to  the  subject  of  th 
sinking  fund.  But  the  “  funding  bill  ”  also  provided  that  whatever  amount  migl 
be  collected  on  account  of  the  state’s  claims  against  Selden,  Withers  &  Co.,  an 
from  other  such  sources  should  go  into  the  sinking  fund.  By  pushing  thes 
claims  to  unexpected  collections,  considerable  amounts  of  money  were  realize; 
and  this  money  it  was  with  which  bonds  were  purchased  for  the  sinking  func 
I  do  not  mean  to  claim  any  extraordinary  credit  to  myself  for  the  faithful  perform 
ance  of  a  simple  duty,  but  it  is  well  known  that  the  collection  of  many  of  thes 
claims  was  largely,  if  not  entirely,  due  to  my  energy  in  pushing  them. 

I  have  relerred  to  the  evidence  before  the  joint  committee  of  the  legislature 
[as  printed  in  House  Doc.  No.  6,  Session  of  1874,]  as  to  the  method  in  whic 
purchases  of  bonds  were  made  for  the  sinking  fund.  As  I  remember,  the  fid 
purchase  was  made  by  Hon.  Geo.  Rye,  then  treasurer.  This  was,  I  think,  on  th 
very  day  the  commissioners  organized  to  wit,  August  2nd,  1871,  and  the  purchas 
was  made  from  Messrs.  R.  H.  Maury  &  Co.  My  only  connection  with  this  tran; 
action  was,  by  direction  of  treasurer  Rye,  to  make  out  the  order  authorizing  an 
requesting  the  second  auditor  to  issue  his  warrant  upon  the  treasury  for  the  pay 
ment  of  the  purchase  money.  Treasurer  Rye  received  the  bonds  from  Messrs.  F 
H.  Maury  &  Co.,  and  I  had  no  agency  in  the  transaction. 

There  were  several  other  purchases  made  (by  treasurer  Rye,  I  think),  prio 
to  the  first  of  January,  1872,  but  the  first  purchase  made  by  me,  was  about  th 
middle  of  that  January.  I  made  this  purchase  from  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  l 
Co.,  at  a  lower  price,  by  over  ten  cents  in  the  dollar  of  the  face  value  of  the  bond? 
than  any  previously  purchased,  and  considerably  lower  than  any  purchased  dui 
ing  the  succeeding  three  or  four  months.  This,  and  all  other  purchases  eve 
made  by  me,  were  made  upon  the  condition  that  the  same  should  be  approved  b 
the  commissioners.  In  this  instance,  especially,  I  remember  that  not  only  wa 
the  sanction  of  the  commissioners  readily  obtained,  but  I  was  congratulated  upo1 
the  excellence  of  the  bargain. 

About  this  time  Col.  Jos.  Mayo,  jr.,  was  elected  treasurer  of  the  common 


7 


ealth  and  became,  ex-officio ,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  in 
ace  of  Hon.  Geo.  Rye.  But  the  commissioners  never  held  any  meeting  while 
easurer  Mayo  was  in  office,  until  called  together  by  governor  Kemper  on  the 
h  of  February,  1874.  Purchases  of  bonds,  however,  continued  to  be  made 
formally  as  before,  some  of  them  by  me,  but  greatly  the  larger  amount  by 
easurer  Mayo,  he  being  himself  in  several  instances  the  seller  of  the  bonds  as 
ell  as  the  purchaser. 

Near  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th  1872,  I  prepared  the 
Report  of  the  operations  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  from  the  date 
their  organization,  August  2nd,  1871,  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending 
:ptember  30th,  1872.”  Copies  of  this  report,  as  printed  and  laid  before  the 
jislature,  are  of  easy  access  and  I  beg  that  it  be  referred  to.  The  following  points 
e  notable,  to  wit :  First,  That  this  report  is  accurate  in  every  respect.  Second, 
lat  it  shows  on  its  face  that  the  second  auditor  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
preparation. 

The  real  fact  is  that  I  alone  prepared  this  report,  and  it  was  never  even  seen 
•  any  one  else  until  complete  ;  then  it  was  by  me  exhibited  to  each  of  the  com- 
ssioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  upon  examination,  approved  by  each  of  them, 
en  printed  under  my  sole  supervision  and  laid  before  the  legislature  with  no 
me  but  mine  affixed  to  it.  If  it  had  been  incorrect  in  any  particular  nothing  is 
rer  than  that  I  would  have  been  held  to  blame  for  it.  As  it  is  correct,  absolutely 
:urate,  in  every  particular  I  think  I  might  be  allowed  whatever- credit  the  fact 
[serves. 

In  the  sequel  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  important  to  observe  the  manner  in 
j  iich  this  report  was  prepared  ;  especially  to  note  the  sources  from  which  I 
: tained  the  data  for  the  statements  of  amounts,  which  it  contains.  And  as  I  alone 
spared  the  report  it  is  undeniable  that  I  alone  can  give  the  information.  It  is 
t  follows  : 

As  I  have  hereinbefore  stated,  whenever  I  drew  an  order,  on  behalf  of  the 
:nmissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  authorizing  and  requesting  the  second  auditor 
'issue  his  warrant  upon  the  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  money  on  account  of 
]  purchase  of  bonds,  I  had  so  framed  the  phraseology  of  the  order  that  its  text 
}uld  be  a  full  statement  of  the  whole  transaction  to  which  it  had  reference. 

.  .vould  show,  namely,  1st.  The  name  of  the  seller  of  the  bonds.  2nd.  The  amount 
1  horized  to  be  paid  out  of  the  money  in  the  treasury  belonging  to  the  sinking 
i  d.  3rd.  The  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  purchased,  and  4th,  The 

i  e  of  the  transaction.  And  now  in  preparing  this  report,  I  availed  myself  of 
n<e  orders  to  obtain  the  information  I  wanted.  Had  I  kept  a  record  of  the 
Mmissioners,  these  orders  would,  of  course,  have  been  copied  into  said  record, 
i'd  upon  being  signed  by  the  commissioners  the  said  record  would  have  been 
I  authentic  public  record  of  their  proceedings.  But  having  neglected  to  do 
:f  ,  I  now  repaired  my  negligence  by  consulting  the  original  orders  themselves, 
v  ch  were  filed  in  the  second  auditor’s  offices  as  his  vouchers ,  and  from  them  I 
:( iputed  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  purchased  during  the  period 
a  )raced  in  the  report  I  was  preparing  ;  and  from  them  also  I  computed  the 
u  )unt  of  money  authorized  to  be  paid  for  said  bonds.  After  making  this  com- 

ition  from  the  original  orders  themselves ,  I  then  examined,  as  a  matter  of 
x  venience  and  not  for  authenticity,  the  entries  in  a  memorandum  book,  (or 
W  ter)  kept  in  the  second  auditor’s  office  and  called  the  “warrant  book  of  the 

ii  ing  fund.”  In  more  than  one  instance  I  discovered  errors  in  these  entries 
v  ;h  I  pointed  out  to  Mr.  Morrison,  the  clerk  who  kept  this  “  warrant  book,” 
u  he  corrected  them  at  my  suggestion.  If  permitted  I  can  now  point  out  these 

rs  which  were  then  corrected, 


8 


As  to  the  amount  of  money  received  into  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  t: 
sinking  fund,  that  also  I  computed  from  the  original  vouchers  themselves.  Wh< 
ever  there  was  any  money  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury,  to  the  credit  of  the  sinki 
fund,  it  was  my  practice  to  draw  an  order  authorizing  and  requesting  the  seco 
auditor  to  issue  his  warrant  upon  the  treasurer  to  receive  said  money,  and  tht 
orders  were  all  filed  in  the  second  auditor’s  office  as  his  vouchers  ;  and  from  tht 
I  computed  the  amount  of  money  received  into  the  sinking  fund  during  the  peri< 
embraced  in  the  report.  But  there  has  never  been  any  question  as  to  the  amou 
of  money  received  into  the  sinking  fund,  and  so  I  might  as  well  dismiss  th 
branch  of  the  subject  here. 

After  thus  computing,  from  the  original  orders ,  the  amount  of  bonds  pi 
chased  (the  face  value)  and  the  amount  of  money  authorized  to  be  paid  for  sa 
bonds,  and  the  amount  of  money  authorized  to  be  received  into  the  treasury 
the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund,  I  also  examined  the  books  in  the  treasury  office 
see  if,  according  to  them,  the  amounts  of  money  received  and  disbursed,  respei 
ively,  corresponded  with  said  amounts  as  I  had  computed  them  from  the  origir 
orders.  I  found  that  they  did. 

Having  thus  obtained  and  verified  an  accurate  statement  of  the  amount  (tj 
face  value)  of  the  bonds  purchased,  I  added  thereto  the  sum  of  $10,000,  tfl 
being  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  certain  consolidated  bonds  purchased  by  ti 
Board  of  Public  Works  and  transferred  to  the  sinking  fund,  and  thus  ascertain 
the  true  amount  (the  face  value)  of  consolidated  bonds  which  ought  to  be  on  ha 
in  the  sinking  fund  at  the  period  designated  in  the  report  I  was  preparing.  I  th 
went  to  the  treasurer’s  safe  in  his  office  and  in  the  presence  of  treasurer  Maj 
took  out  and  counted  the  bonds  therein  deposited’belonging  to  the  sinking  fur 
to  see  if  the  amount  of  said  bonds  (the  face  value)  corresponded  with  that  whi 
I  had  ascertained  was  the  amount  which  ought  to  be  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fur 
I  found  that  it  did.  And  thereupon  I  prepared  the  report  mentioned  and  pn 
ceeded  to  have  it  printed.  There  was  also  on  hand  at  that  time  a  large  amoul 
of  old  unfunded  (not  consolidated)  bonds  which  had  come  into  the  sinking  fu  I 
otherwise  than  by  purchase,  the  amount  of  which  is  stated  in  a  note  appended  1 
the  said  report,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  it. 

It  was  my  custom  whenever  the  purchases  of  bonds  amounted  to  as  much  i 
$10,000  (face  value)  to  have  them  converted  into  registered  bonds  of  the  denoii 
ination  of  $10,000,  (that  being  the  highest  denomination  of  bonds  issued)  in  t! 
name  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  thereafter  they  stood  in  tin 
name  on  the  books,  both  of  the  second  auditor  and  the  treasurer.  At  the  closeil 
the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th,  1872,  there  were  ten  of  these  register! 
bonds  for  $10,000,  each,  seven  of  which  were  dated  July  1st,  1871,  and  the  oth 
three  July  1st,  ,1872.  Of  the  seven  which  were  dated  July  1st  1871,  I  shall  presei 
Iv  hereinafter  speak  fully.  They  form  an  exceedingly  important  branch  of  r' 
subject. 

An  act  of  assembly  was  passed  March  7th,  1872.  prescribing  what  should  I 
receivable  in  payment  of  taxes,  which,  in  effect,  prohibited  the  tax  collectors  fra 
receiving  the  coupons  from  bonds  issued  under  the  “  funding  bill”  although  tt 
“  funding  bill  ”  provided  that  they  should  receive  them.  This  act  was  adjudgl 
unconstitutional  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  case  of  Antoni  vs.  Wrigj 
Upon  the  passage  ot  this  act,  however,  the  second  auditor  refused  to  continue  rt 
business  ol  funding  the  public  debt  any  longer  under  the  “  funding  bill,”  at  least  1 
far  as  concerned  the  issuance  ot  coupons  bonds  with  coupons  expressing  on  till 
reverse  side  that  they  were  receivable  for  taxes.  The  business  of  funding  in 
consolidated  registered  bonds,  however,  continued  as  before,  the  said  registen 
bonds  being  precisely  like  those  previously  issued,  printed  from  the  same  pla|, 


9 


n  fact,  and  only  differing  as  to  the  date  of  issue.  But  about  the  first  of  July  1872, 
xeasurer  Mayo  caused  to  be  prepared  and  commenced  to  issue  a  new  class  of 
:onsolidated  coupon  bonds  to  parties  bringing  in  their  bonds  to  be  funded. 
I'hese  were  exactly  like  the  coupon  bonds  formerly  issued  except  that  it  was  not  ex- 
Dressed  on  the  reverse  sides  of  the  coupons  that  they  were  receivable  for  taxes.  In 
:he  slang  of  the  stock  market  this  new  class  of  coupon  bonds  came  to  be  called 
‘  peelers,”  while  those  formerly  issued  were  called  “  consols.”  But  there  never 
vas  any  authority  of  law  for  issuing  these  “  peelers,”  unless  the  act  of  March 
hh,  1872,  be  supposed  such,  and  if  so,  it  could  be  only  by  a  remote  implica- 
:ion.  But  the  legislature  had  manifested  hostility  to  the  “  funding  bill  ”  and 
:o  issue  “  peelers  ”  was  to  please  the  stronger  side. 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th  1872,  there  was 
10  appreciable  difference  in  the  market  quotations  for  “consols  ”  and  “  peelers,” 
espectively  ;  never  exceeding  the  fraction  of  a  cent  in  their  face  value.  The 
ipinion  was  that  as  the  state  was  equally  bound  for  both,  there  could  be  no  in- 
rinsic  difference  between  the  two  in  value.  But  in  all  purchases  of  bonds,  for  the 
linking  fund,  preference  was  always  given  to  “peelers”  and  no  purchases  of 
‘  consols  ”  were  ever  made  after  “  peelers  were  issued,  except  in  the  instances 
lereinafter  specified  when  auditor  Rogers  was  the  purchaser  in  one  instance  and 
reasurer  Mayo  in  the  others. 

At  the  time  when  “  peelers  ”  were  first  issued,  the  sinking  fund  had  on  hand 
l  small  lot  of  “  consols,”  which  had  been  purchased  before  “  peelers  ”  were  issued, 
>ut  as  they  did  not  amount  to  as  much  as  $10,000  (face  value)  they  had  not  yet 
>een  converted  into  a  registered  bond,  but  still  remained  in  the  form  of  consoli- 
lated  coupon  bonds,  as  when  purchased.  Some  of  the  city  brokers  had  on  hand 
it  that  time  also  certain  small  lots  of  what  was  called  “  fundable  stuff”  (being  old 
)onds,  etc.,  which  by  the  terms  of  the  “  funding  bill,”  were  entitled  to  be  funded). 
\fter  “  peelers  ”  appeared,  they  got  this  “  fundable  stuff,”  funded  into  “  peelers,” 

•  nd  got  me  to  exchange  the  “  consols  ”  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund  just  now 
nentioned  for  these  “  peelers.”  I  got  the  “  consols”  out  of  the  treasurer’s  safe 
or  the  purpose  of  making  these  exchanges,  in  the  treasurer’s  presence,  telling 
iim  oi  the  whole  matter ;  and  on  making  the  exchanges,  dollar  for  dollar  of  their 
ice  value,  I  put  the  “  peelers  ”  back  into  the  safe  in  place  of  the  “  consols.”  But 
hese  exchanges  amounted  to  no  more  than  $10,000  (face  value),  and  were  not 
egarded  as  anything  but  a  mere  matter  of  accommodation  to  the  brokers,  for 
fhom  1  did  it.  The  exchanges  were  made  openly  in  the  second  auditor’s  office, 
'ithout  any  attempt  at  concealment  from  any  body  ;  for  at  that  time  it  was  never 
ipposed  that  there  was  any  intrinsic  difference  between  the  two  classes  of  bonds, 
nd  nobody  dreamed  for  a  moment  that  “  peelers  ”  and  “  consols  ”  would  not  be 
qually  valuable  as  an  investment  to  the  sinking  fund. 

1  he  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeals  delivered  in  the  latter  part  of 
372,  in  the  case  of  Antoni  vs.  Wright,  and  in  a  similar  case  at  the  same  term, 
;ttled  the  question  which  had  been  raised  by  the  act  of  March  7th,  1872,  as  to 
hether  coupons  from  “  consols  ”  should  be  received  for  taxes.  Soon  after  this 
pinion  was  promulged,  the  difference  between  “  consols  ”  and  “  peelers  ”  in  the 
ock  market  quotations  increased,  and  by  the  1st  of  January  1873,  it  was  as  high 
1  five  cents  in  the  dollar  of  their  face  value.  But  this  “  difference  ”  was  not  at 
1  as  to  their  substantial  value.  It  was  only  such  as  was  made  by  the  arbitrary 
notations  of  the  stock-jobbers,  for  speculative  purposes;  the  ground  of  specula- 
)n  relating  to  the  action  to  be  taken  by  the  legislature  on  the  public  debt  ques- 

There  were  outstanding  on  the  1st  of  October  1872,  of  “consols”  over 
5,000,000,  besides  more  than  $5,000,000  of  funded  registered  bonds  convertible 


10 


into  “  consols  ”  at  holder’s  option  (of  which  rcgisteied  bonds  I  shall  have  mon 
to  say  presently),  while  of  “  peelers  ”  there  were  less  than  $800,000.  This  wa: 
about  the  state  of  the  case  when  the  legislature  assembled  in  December  1872 
and  there  was  great  uncertainty  as  to  what  that  body  would  do.  It  was  som< 
weeks  before  there  was  any  development  of  the  legislative  purpose,  but  very  soor 
after  Christmas  the  stock  market  became  excited  over  Virginia  bonds  and  th< 
quotations  were  very  fluctuating,  especially  as  to  the  difference  between  “consols’ 
and  “  peelers  ’’ — that  affording  the  best  field  just  then  for  the  speculations  of  th< 
stock-jobbers.  This  difference  fluctuated  for  several  weeks,  and  seemed  to  bi 
affected  by  almost  every  speech  in  the  legislature  on  the  subject  of  the  publii 
debt.  In  fine,  the  brokers  were  simply  gambling  upon  the  disposition  and  pur 
poses  of  the  legislature  touching  the  public  debt  of  Virginia. 

But  no  bonds  except  “  peelers  ”  were  ever  bought  by  me  for  the  sinking  func 
after  “  peelers  ”  were  first  issued ;  although  some  of  the  brokers  (I  remember  on< 
in  particular  who  was  very  urgent  about  it)  protested  against  the  making  of  an) 
difference  in  purchases  for  the  sinking  fund  between  “  consols  ”  and  “  peelers.’ 
They  wanted  me  to  take  them  all  indiscriminately  at  “  consols  ”  prices. 

As  I  stated  just  now,  there  were  outstanding  on  the  1st  of  October  1872,— 
besides  the  $15,000,000  of  “  consols  ” — more  than  $5,000,000  of  funded,  registerei 
(consolidated)  bonds  which  expressed  on  their  faces  that  they  were  convertibh 
into  “  consols  ”  at  the  option  of  the  holder.  It  had  been  the  practice  in  the  seconc 
auditor’s  office  to  make  these  conversions  at  the  holder’s  option  according  to  th< 
provisions  of  the  “  funding  bill but  after  the  legislature  assumed  a  hostile  atti 
tude  towards  the  “  funding  bill  ”  the  second  auditor  refused  to  make  these  con 
versions  any  longer. 

By  reason  of  this  arbitrary  refusal  of  the  second  auditor  the  stock-jobber 
were  enabled  to  arrange  still  another  speculation.  They  made  a  difference  in  thei 
market  quotations  between  registered  “  consols  ”  and  coupon  “  consols  ;  ”  althougl 
these  two  classes  of  bonds  were  issued  under  the  provisions  of  the  same  sectioi 
of  the  same  act  of  assembly  and  declared  by  law  to  be  mutually  convertible  a 
holder’s  option.  In  effect,  the  second  auditor  put  the  $5,000,000  of  registerei 
“  consols  ”  on  the  same  footing  with  the  $800,000  of  “  peelers  ”  and  thus  affordec 
the  brokers  an  increase  of  speculative  patodum  to  the  extent  of  $5,000,000 
But  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1872,  the  second  auditor  was  induced  t( 
agree  to  convert  these  registered  “  consols  ”  into  coupon  “  consols  ”  whenever  re 
quested  by  holders  to  do  so. 

This  was  in  the  month  of  December  1872,  when  he  agreed  thus  to  obey  th< 
law,  though  I  did  not  hear  of  it  ’till  about  two  weeks  after  he  bad  so  agreed, 
was  then  informed  of  it  by  treasurer  Mayo,  who  told  me  of  it  as  a  secret.  Hi 
mentioned  the  fact  that  under  the  law  the  transfer  books,  as  thev  are  called,  ii 
the  second  auditor's  office,  are  closed  from  the  9th  to  the  31st  of  December,  am 
from  the  9th  to  the  30th  of  June,  each  year,  during  which  periods  no  transfers  o 
conversions  of  state  bonds  are  made.  And  then  he  told  me  that  as  soon  as  the  book 
were  re-opened,  on  the  1st  of  January,  the  second  auditor  would  again,  as  he  hac 
formerly  done,  convert  registered  “  consols  ”  into  coupon  “  consols  ”  at  holder’ 
option.  In  the  meantime,  however,  he  charged  me  to  keep  this  informatioi 
secret ,  but  hinted  that  if  I  wanted  to  make  a  spendation  in  the  premises  I  was  a 
liberty  to  do  so,  giving  me  to  understand  that  he  had  already  done  so  himself 
On  obtaining  this  information  from  treasurer  Mayo,  I  went  to  the  office  of  Messrs 
Parker  Campbell  &  Co.,  and  after  discussing  the  matter  with  them  in  confidence 
it  was  agreed  between  us  to  make  a  speculation  in  the  manner  indicated  to  me  b' 
treasurer  Mayo.  We  were  to  buy  registered  “  consols,”  which  were  then  selling 
at  “peeler”  prices,  hold  them  until  the  1st  of  January,  then  get  the  second  audito 


11 


:o  convert  them  into  coupon  “consols”  and  sell  them  at  “consols”  prices; 
vhereby  we  would  make  a  very  handsome  profit.  The  agreement  between  them 
ind  myself  was  that  they  should  furnish  the  capital,  buy  the  registered  “  consols  ” 
ind  conduct  the  operation  generally ;  on  settlement  they  should  charge  interest 
>n  the  money  for  the  time  used,  deduct  that  and  all  other  expenses  of  the  specu- 
ation  and  then  divide  the  net  profit  equally  between  us. 

As  soon  as  we  had  made  this  agreement  Mr.  S.  Sprigg  Campbell  went  out 
it  once  with  instructions  to  buy  up  all  the  registered  “  consols  ”  in  the  Richmond 
narket.  But  he  soon  returned  and  reported  that  there  were  none  in  market, 
fhey  had  all  been  bought  up.  That  night  he  went  to  Baltimore  with  instructions 
o  buy  all  he  could  find  in  that  market.  He  remained  in  Baltimore  several  days, 
ind  on  his  return  reported  that  they  had  all  been  bought  up  in  that  market  also, 
de  said,  however,  that  he  had  met  Gen.  Bradley  T.  Johnson,  in  Baltimore,  and 
rom  him  had  obtained  a  lot  of  them  for  account  of  our  speculation  amounting  to 
>25,000  (face  value).  He  subsequently  obtained  several  very  small  lots  also  on 
he  same  account  amounting  to  about  $5,700  (face  value).  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell 
\  Co.  carried  out  the  operation  in  accordance  with  the  agreement  between  us, 
.nd  about  the  middle  of  January  they  informed  me  that  they  had  closed  up  the 
>usiness  of  our  speculation,  and  thereupon  they  handed  me  their  account  current 
nd  we  had  a  settlement  in  full.  The  account  current  then  rendered  me  I  have 
•reserved  and  herewith  submit  a  copy  of  the  same,  as  follows : 

Parker  Campbell  &  Co.,  in  account  with  W.  D.  Coleman. 

872.  1872. 

)ec.  30,  “  Va.  Consols  @  55^  i5,oeo  8231  25  Dec.  20,  Expenses  S.  S.  Campbell  to 

873.  Baltimore,  45  00 

an.  4,  “  Va.  Consols  “  55^  10,000  5487  50  Dec.  21,  Va.  Consol  Regis,  (purchased 

“  8,  “  Va.  Consols  “  55^  5,000  2743  75  by  S.  S.  C.)  @  51  c.  25,000  12,750  00 

“  9,  “  Va.  Consols  “  54%  700  381  50  Dec.  29,  8  day’s  interest  @  10  per  cent. 

“  9,  “  Va.  Fraction  “  55  3S  68  21  27  on  $12,750  00  28  32 

Dec.  20,  Va.  Consol  Reg.  2,900  @  50I  1453  62 

Dec.  24,  “  “  “  2,538.68  “  5cf  1272  51 

1873- 

Jan.  g,  Sundry  Charges  interest  per 
account  Fisher  &  Son,  43  51 

Less  Sundry  Credits  16  01 

-  27  50 

Jan.  9,  Telegrams  10  00 

9,  Expressage  11  65 

-  21  65 

Dec.  28,  Va.  Consol  Reg.  200  @56  112  00 

Jan.  14,  Va.  Peeler  '  100  “  55  55  00 

.  “  14,  Interest  on  $2,725  12  97 

W.  D.  Coleman  one-half  543  35 
P.  Campbell  &  Co.  “  543  35 

-  1086  70 

$16,865  27  $16,865  27 

E.  &  O.  E. 

Receipt  given  for  the  sum  of  $543.35,  as  per  this  account. 

WM.  D.  COLEMAN, 
January  14th,  1873. 

I  wish  you  to  notice,  Mr.  Wise,  while  this  account  is  before  you,  that  among 
re  bonds  purchased  was  one  “  peeler”  of  $100,  which  however  was  not  among 
re  bonds  sold.  Mr.  Campbell  told  me  he  had  received  this  “  peeler  ”  by  mistake, 
ut  in  our  settlement  I  agreed  to  take  it  on  my  own  account,  paid  for  it  on  the 
i  ?ot  and  thus  made  it  my  individual  property.  I  afterwards  used  this  “  peeler  ” 


(along  with  others  which  1  subsequently  acquired)  in  the  manner  hereinafter! 
fully  stated. 

As  I  have  stated  hereinbefore,  there  were  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund  at  thi;J 
time  (say,  January  ist,  1873)  seven  of  the  registered.  “  consols”  each  for  $10,0001 
(face  value)  amounting  to  $70,000  (face  value)  in  the  aggregate.  They  repre 
sented  the  bonds  which  had  been  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund  prior  to  the  issue( 
of  “  peelers  ”  and  also  comprised  the  $10,000  (face  value)  of  bonds  which  hac 
been  purchased  by  the  Board  of  Public  Works  and  transferred  to  the  sinking 
fund. 

That  the  sinking  fund  had  these  $70,000  of  registered  “  consols  ”  on  hanc 
was  known,  I  believe,  to  every  broker  in  Richmond.  Among  others,  Mr.  S.  Sprigg 
Campbell  had  knowledge  of  it ;  and  after  closing  up  the  speculation  betweer 
Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.  and  myself,  just  mentioned,  he  urged  me  to  go  into 
another  speculation  with  him,  making  these  $70,000  of  registered  “  consols  ”  the 
basis  of  the  same.  The  operation  was  to  be  as  follows  :  To  get  these  $70,000  oij 
registered  “  consols  ”  converted  into  coupon  “consols;”  then  exchange  these] 
coupon  “consols”  for  “  peelers;”  then  to  have  the  “  peelers,”  in  their  turn,  converted 
into  registered  bonds  again  in  the  name  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund , 
It  is  to  be  remembered  in  this  connection  that  the  only  difference  between 
registered  “  consols  ”  and  registered  “  peelers  ”  is  in  their  respective  dates.  Both 
are  printed  from  the  same  plates,  and  both  express  the  obligation  of  the  •eommon-< 
wealth  for  their  payment  in  precisely  the  same  language.  During  the  month  o:, 
January  1873  after  the  speculation  between  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.  andi 
myself  had  been  closed  up,  the  subject  of  converting  these  $70,000  of  registered 
“  consols  ”  and  so  on,  was  several  times  discussed  between  Mr.  S.  Sprigg  Camp-i 
bell  and  myself.  I  was  reluctant  to  do  it,  but  he  urged  it. 

I  had  told  treasurer  Mayo  about  the  successful  speculation  in  which  I  had 
engaged  with  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.,  in  registered  “  consols,”  and  he. 
had  given  me  to  understand  that  he  also  had  made  a  considerable  sum  of  moneyi 
by  a  similar  speculation.  Near  about  the  ist  of  February,  I  mentioned  to  treas-* 
urer  Mayo  the  subject  of  these  $70,000  of  registered  “  consols  ”  in  the  sinkingi 
fund,  and  asked  his  opinion  of  the  scheme  for  their  conversion  into  coupoyi  “  con-f 
sols.”  and  so  on,  as  already  described  above.  In  reply  treasurer  Mayo  at  once 
expressed  his  approval  of  the  scheme,  and  slid  he  would  like  to  go  into  it.  After 
some  discussion  ol  the  subject  with  him,  my  own  scruples  were  removed,  andi 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  go  into  the  speculation.  The  details  of  the  operation 
were  then  discussed  between  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself,  and  I  suggested  that  as 
two  of  the  clerks  in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  and  one  of  those  in  the  treasury, 
office,  would  have  to  perform  the  clerical  work  necessary  for  the  several  conversions 
and  reconversions  ol  the  bonds,  it  was  but  fair  that  they  should  have  a  portion  ol 
the  profits  which  might  be  made  by  the  transaction.  To  this  treasurer  Maya 
assented,  and  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  speak  to  the  two  clerks  in  the  second 
auditor’s  office  and  he  to  the  clerk  in  his  office.  I  did  speak  to  the  two  clerks  in  the 
second  auditor’s  office  and  they  both  agreed  to  do  their  part  of  the  work,  and  seemed 
glad  of  the  opportunity,  to  make  the  money.  I  only  told  them  the  main  pointsi 
in  the  plan,  without  the  details,  as  discussed  by  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself;  but  I 
told  them  that  their  part  would  be  at  least  $100,  each,  and  I  thought  considerably 
more,  at  which  they  seemed  well  pleased.  I  remember  being  told  by  one  of  them 
at  the  time  of  a  similar  enterprise  by  which  Mr.  DeWitt  and  Mr.  Daniel  had  made 
considerable  sums  of  money  for  themselves,  on  account  of  exchanging  one  kind 
ol  bond  for  another  some  years  previously  for  a  certain  broker. 

After  this,  I  went  to  Mr.  S.  Sprigg  Campbell,  and  told  him  that  I  had  con- . 
suited  treasurer  Mayo,  and  some  of  the  “  basement  clerks  ”  in  tegard  to  the  pro- 


13 


■ct,  and  as  they  saw  no  impropriety  in  it,  I  had  resolved  to  go  into  it.  Mr.  S. 
prigg  Campbell  seemed  pleased  at  my  conclusion,  and  said  he  would  go  to  work 
:  once  to  buy  up  “  peelers,”  and  get  them  ready  to  make  the  exchanges.  He 
lid  he  had  on  hand,  or  could  get  ready,  as  much  as  $10,000,  in  a  few  days. 

The  next  day,  I  think  it  was,  I  took  to  the  transfer  clerk  in  the  second  audi 
>r’s  office,  one  of  the  $10,000  registered  “  consols,”  and  requested  him  to  con- 
ert  it  into  ten  coupon  “  consols  ”  for  $1,000  each.  He  promised  to  do  it  speedily. 
1  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  probably  the  very  next  day,  I  handed  him  the  other 
V  registered  “  consols  ”  for  $10,000  each,  asking  him  to  convert  them  also  into 
mpon  “  consols,”  and  this  he  also  promised  to  do  speedily. 

Not  long  after  this,  a  day  or  two,  perhaps,  he  informed  me  that  the  first  reg- 
ed  “consol  ”  for  $10,000  he  had  converted  into  coupon  “  mnsnk  ”  anH  tW 


ered  “  consol  _  _ 

e  latter  were  ready  to  be  delivered  to  me.  Thereupon  I  received  them  and 


pied  the  receipt  for  them.  I  then  folded  them  and  put  them  up  in  a  package 
my  desk,  after  which  I  took  them  into  the  treasury  office,  showed  them  to 
tasurer  Mayo,  and  put  them  into  the  treasurer’s  safe  for  the  time  being. 

A  day  or  two  after  this,  as  I  sat  at  my  desk,  a  clerk  in  the  treasurer’s  office 
ssed  along  near  me  from  the  treasury  office  into  that  of  the  second  auditor, 
frying  a  large  bundle  of  bonds  in  his  hands.  As  he  passed  near  me  he  called 
r  attention  to  the  bonds  he  was  carrying  and  said  something  to  the  effect  that 
had  those  bonds  for  me.  I  inferred  that  treasurer  Mayo  had  explained  to 
n  the  whole  operation,  and  that  his  remark  to  me  was  an  allusion  to  it.  But 
s  proper  to  say  that  I  have  never  had  any  conversation  with  this  clerk  on  the 
oject.  Two  or  three  hours  later,  the  same  day,  as  I  was  standing  at  a  large 
■  le  used  by  the  board  of  public  works  in  a  part  of  the  second  auditor’s  office, 

:  imining  some  old  records  spread  out  before  me,  I  noticed  the  second  auditor 
en.  Rogers)  at  his  desk  engaged  in  signing  a  large  number  of  bonds  which  I 
•  iposed  were  the  same  which  had  been  brought  in  that  day.  As  I  stood  there,  I 
Mr.  DeWitt  come  up  to  auditor  Rogers,  and  stand  by  him  for  a  few  moments 
( king  at  him  signing  the  bonds.  He  then  came  on  to  me  where  I  stood  and 
[  Aged  in  conversation  with  me  about  the  conversion  of  the  said  bonds.  Mr. 
-Witt  is  now  dead,  and  for  that  reason  I  refrain  from  relating  the  conversation 
)  ween  us. 


After  auditor  Rogers  had  finished  signing  these  bonds  I  received  them  from 
1  transfer  clerk  and  receipted  for  them.  It  was  by  this  time  nearly  three  o’clock, 
1  hour  for  closing  up  the  offices  in  the  capitol.  There  were  sixty  of  these  cou- 
''  “  consols  ”  each  for  $1,000,  making  $60,000  in  the  aggregate.  I  took  them 

I  rolled  them  up  into  a  bundle  without  folding  them,  and  forthwith  carried 
bn  into  the  treasurer’s  private  office  to  put  them  in  his  safe  ;  treasurer  Mayo  was 
)’  sent,  but  had  just  closed  and  locked  his  safe  preparatory  to  leaving.  I  told 
ii  what  bonds  these  were  and  he  opened  the  safe  for  me  to  put  them  in.  The 
k  ds  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund  were  kept  in  an  upper  compartment  of  this 
f‘  sury  safe,  but  there  was  not  room  in  that  compartment  for  the  large  roll  of 
'C  ds  I  now  had  and  I  therefore  laid  them  away  in  the  bottom  of  the  safe.  Treas- 

II  Mayo  assisted  me  to  put  them  in,  he  removing  some  other  things  in  the 
'C  om  of  the  safe  in  order  to  make  room.  He  then  closed  and  locked  the  safe 
n  we  left  the  office  together.  As  we  walked  along,  after  leaving  the  capitol,  I 
0  him  of  the  conversation  between  Mr.  De  Witt  and  myself,  while  auditor 
L  :ers  was  signing  the  bonds,  and  that  Mr.  De  Witt  was  to  have  a  part  of  what- 
v  we  made  by  the  operation.  Treasurer  Mayo  made  some  disparaging 
n  about  Mr.  De  Witt  and  warned  me  that  he  was  no  friend  of  mine)  his 
n  lty  towards  me  being  the  effect  of  my  having  an  office  he  formerly  held ; 


14 


(alluding  to  my  appointment  as  secretary  of  the  board  of  public  works  in  pla< 
of  Mr.  De  Witt). 

The  next  day  (I  think  it  was)  Mr.  S.  Sprigg  Campbell  notified  me  that  1 
had  procured  $10,000  of  “peelers”  and  was  ready  to  proceed  to  that  extent 
making  the  exchanges  which  we  had  agreed  to  make.  I  went  to  the  treasui 
safe  and  in  treasurer  Mayo’s  presence,  took  out  the  bundle  containing  the  $10, oc 
of  coupon  “consols”  into  which  the  first  one  of  the  $10,000  registered  “  consols 
had  been  converted  as  I  have  above  related.  On  taking  out  this  bundle  I  to 
treasurer  Mayo  what  I  was  going  to  do  with  the  bonds  and  all  about  Mr.  Cam; 
bell  having  notified  me  of  his  readiness  to  exchange  “  peelers  ”  for  them.  1  th< 
took  the  bonds  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  we  made  the  exchange.  Mr.  Campbell  sa 
the  “  difference  ”  would  be  $300  and  he  was  proceeding  to  divide  that  amou 
equally  between  us ;  but  1  told  him  no,  that  it  had  to  be  divided  with  treasur 
Mayo  and  some  of  the  “  basement  clerks  ”  and  that  his  part  would  be  only  on 
seventh.  After  some  contention  for  one-half ,  Mr.  Campbell  finally  agreed  to  tal 
the  one-seventh  and  the  settlement  was  made  accordingly.  He  paid  me  $257. 
in  currency,  and  retained  $42.85  out  of  the  $300. 

After  making  this  exchange  and  settlement  with  Mr.  Campbell,  I  took  tl 
$10,000  of  “  peelers  ”  received  from  him  and  put  them  in  the  safe  in  the  treasu 
office  in  the  very  spot  from  which  I  had  taken  the  $10,000  of  “  consols  ”  to  mal 
the  exchange.  The  occasion  is  distinctly  impressed  upon  my  memory  by  reas<| 
of  the  circumstances.  On  entering  the  treasurer’s  private  office  to  put  the 
“  peelers  ”  in  his  safe  I  found  several  members  of  the  legisluture  and  several  1 
the  “  basement  clerks  ”  present  with  treasurer  Mayo,  the  whole  party  being  in  tj 
act  of  taking  a  drink  of  whiskey  together.  I  was  invited  to  join  them  and  d 
so.  The  safe-door  was  standing  open,  treasurer  Mayo,  I  judged,  having  just  taki 
out  of  the  safe  a  demijohn  of  whiskey  which  in  those  days  was  kept  there.  I 
casually  remarked  to  him  that  I  had  just  come  in  to  put  away  this  bundle  of  boni 
and  having  thus  called  his  attention  to  what  I  was  doing,  I  put  the  “  peelers  ”  irl 
the  safe  as  already  stated  and  proceeded  to  take  a  drink  with  the  party.  It  \\i 
then  three  o’clock  and  we  all  went  out.  I  left  the  capitol  at  once  and  proceed 
directly  to  my  lodgings,  because  I  was  feeling  quite  unwell  and  suffering  with 
cold. 

The  money  paid  me  by  Mr.  Campbell  on  making  this  exchange  I  put  in 
my  pocket  for  the  time,  and  before  I  had  an  opportunity  to  divide  it  with  treasu  l 
Mayo  and  the  others,  I  was  taken  ill  with  inflammatory  rheumatism  which  cc 
fined  me  to  my  room  for  about  six  weeks.  Treasurer  Mayo  came  to  see  me  wh 
I  was  in  bed  and  I  told  him  the  particulars  of  the  transaction  between  > 
Campbell  and  myself,  informing  him  of  the  amount  of  money  I  had  receiv 
from  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  basis  on  which  I  had  divided  it,  and  also  mention 
that  the  $257.15  I  had  received  from  Mr.  Campbell  to  be  divided  with  h 
(treasurer  Mayo)  and  the  “  basement  clerks  ”  was  then  by  me  in  my  roo 
Treasurer  Mayo  very  kindly  suggested  that  1  would  need  money  in  my  sickness  a 
told  me  that  I  would  better  keep  the  $257,15,  and  said  that  he  would  exchange  ' 
remaining  $60,000  of  “  consols  ”  into  which  the  registered  bonds  had  been  c« 
verted  and  make  the  divisions  with  the  others  out  of  the  “  difference  ”  he  shoj 
obtain  in  making  the  said  exchanges.  To  this  I  very  gladly  assented. 

Mr.  Campbell  also  came  to  see  me,  while  I  was  sick  in  bed,  several  tiirsi 
file  first  time  he  came  after  I  had  made  the  arrangement  with  treasurer  M;J 
just  mentioned,  I  got  him  to  take  $200  of  the  money  to  keep  for  me,  and  I  kit 
the  balance  of  it  for  use  as  I  might  need  it.  Before  I  got  well  I  sent  to  A 
Campbell  for  $50  of  the  money  as  I  needed  it,  and  after  my  recovery  he  hand 
me  back  the  balance. 


15 


Upon  my  recovery  and  return  to  the  capitol,  treasurer  Mayo  told  me  that  he 
id  effected  the  exchange  of  a  portion  of  the  $60,000  but  not  all  of  it.  He  did 
)t  tell  me  how  much  he  had  exchanged  nor  what  amount  of  money  he  had 
ceived  on  account  of  the  same.  He  did  tell  me,  however,  that  he  had  thought 
a  better  plan  than  mine  for  effecting  these  exchanges.  He  said  his  plan  was 
sell  the  “  consols  ”  in  the  stock  market  and  then  buy  “  peelers  ”  as  he  could 
ck  them  up  in  the  market,  from  time  to  time.  By  this  plan,  he  said,  we  would 
ake  more  than  by  mine,  because  we  would  not  have  to  pav  Mr.  Campbell  or 
y  c^her  broker,  a  share  of  the  “  difference.”  He  said  he  had  better  facilities 
r  effecting  this  operation  than  1  had  and  would  go  on  and  finish  the  business  of 
changing  the  balance  of  the  $60,000  of  “  consols  ”  into  which  the  $70,000  of 
entered  bonds  had  been  converted.  I  very  readily  agreed  to  this  and  thereafter 
lad  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  exchanging  the  remainder  of  these  “  consols.” 
the  course  of  the  next  month  or  so,  treasurer  Mayo  handed  me,  at  different 
ies,  several  sums  of  money  amounting  to  about  one  hundred  dollars,  or  more, 
uch  he  told  me  at  the  time  was  on  account  of  my  part  of  the  difference  acquir- 
by  exchanging  these  $60,000  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers.”  He  did  not  expressly 
me  on  any  of  these  occasions  that  he  had  paid  similar  sums,  or  any  sums,  to 
basement  clerks  ”  who  were  entitled  to  a  share  of  the  profits  of  the  operation 
1  1  took  it  for  granted  that  he  had  paid  them.  To  Mr.  Campbell  I  mentioned 
■  fact  that  I  had  turned  over  to  treasurer  Mayo  the  whole  business  of  finishing 
these  exchanges  ”  and  hinted  to  him  that  he  had  better  speak  to  him  on  the 
>ject.  I  do  not  know  certainly  whether  he  ever  did  speak  to  him  on  the 
>ject  or  not,  but  I  believe  he  did. 

I  have  stated  that  I  never  at  any  time  did  buy  for  the  sinking  fund  a  single 
far  of  ‘  consols  ”  after  “  peelers  ”  were  issued.  There  were  never,  in  fact,  any 
rasols  bought  after  the  date  of  the  first  issue  of  “  peelers,”  except  in  three  in- 
ices  in  one  of  which,  as  I  will  now  relate,  auditor  Rogers  was  the  purchaser ;  and 

einafter  tW°  treasurer  Mayo  was’  as  1  wil1  also  relate,  in  its  proper  place, 

Some  time  in  April,  1873,  Mr.  James  L.  Maury,  representing  the  firm  of  R.  H. 
ary  &  Co.,  came  to  me  and  asked  me  to  purchase  of  him  for  the  sinking  fund 
t  of  ‘consols  ”  amounting  to  $26,000  (face  value).  But  I  altogether  declined 
(lake  the  purchase  on  the  ground  that  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund 
f  Purchasing  none  but  “  peelers,”  and  this  for  obvious  reasons.  On  my  abso- 
|  y  declining  to  make  the  purchase,  Mr.  Maury  left  me  and  went  to  auditor 
Prs  who  was  sitting  at  his  desk,  I  being  seated  at  mine  at  the  time.  He  held 
e  conversation  with  auditor  Rogers,  which  I  did  not  hear  well  enough  to 
erstand  after  which  auditor  Rogers  came  to  me  at  my  desk,  and,  entering  at 
;  into  the  subject,  said  to  me  that  he  thought  the  sinking  fund  ought  to  buy 
e  bonds  which  Mr.  Maury  wanted  to  sell.  He  said  he  thought  the  state 

,  u  1/  -a  ^°°d  barSain  to  buy  her  obligations  at  such  a  discount  and 
-:3es,  he  added,  it  would  be  a  great  accommodation  to  Mr.  Maury.  I  replied 
•  he  (auditor  Rogers)  was  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund, 
If  1  was  only  a  secretary  and  had  no  voice  in  determining  their  action  ;  but 
t|  lever  you  gentlemen,  the  commissioners,  direct  me  to  do,  I  am  quite  willing 
x  And  then  I  suggested  that  he  should  let  me  go  and  consult  the  other 
1  tnissioners^  To  this  he  assented,  and  I  went  at  once  to  treasurer  Mayo  in 
e  reasurv  office,  and  told  him  what  auditor  Rogers  wanted  me  to  do.  Tre’as- 
1|  Mayo  replied  that  he  had  no  objection  to  the  purchase,  as  auditor  Rogers 
|eblt  t0  be  made.  Then  I  went  to  auditor  Taylor’s  office  to  consult  him  on 
e  ubject,  but  he  was  not  in  his  office.  I  returned  to  Mr.  Maury  who  was  wait- 
3 1  the  second  auditor’s  office,  and  told  him  that  as  two  of  the  commissioners 


16 


had  agreed  to  make  the  purchase  he  could  bring  the  bonds,  and  I  would  recei 
them  and  give  him  an  order  for  a  warrant  to  pay  for  them.  Accordingly,  the  bon 
were  brought  to  me,  and  I  gave  the  order  for  a  warrant  to  pay  for  them.  ( 
receiving  the  bonds,  I  took  them  to  the  treasurer’s  safe  and  put  them  in  it, 
presence  of  treasurer  Mayo,  along  with  the  other  bonds  there  belonging  to  t 
sinking  fund. 

One  day  in  (he  month  of  July,  1873,  after  auditor  Rogers  had  purchasj 
these  “  consols”  from  Mr.  Maury,  treasurer  Mayo  purchased  of  Messrs.  Isaa> 
Taylor  &  Williams,  some  twenty-odd  thousands  of  dollars  (face  value)  of  “  pc 
ers.”  Mr.  Williams  of  that  firm  delivered  these  bonds  in  person  to  treasur 
Mayo  in  the  treasurer’s  office.  When  he  brought  them  treasurer  Mayo  came 
me  at  my  desk,  and  told  me  of  the  purchase,  and  instructed  me  to  draw  an  ore 
for  a  warrant  to  pay  for  them.  When  he  did  so,  as  I  sat  at  my  desk,  I  suggest' 
to  him  that  it  would  be  well  to  exchange  the  §26,000  of  “  consols  ”  purchased 
auditor  Rogers  of  Mr.  Maury  (as  I  have  just  now  related)  with  Mr.  Williams  1 
these  “  peelers  ”  instead  of  buying  the  said  “  peelers;”  my  idea  being  to  take  t 
“  difference  ”  also  in  “  peelers  ”  for  the  benefit  of  the  sinking  fund.  To  this  su 
gestion,  treasurer  Mayo  assented,  but  said  he  had  already  exchanged  for  “peeler 
a  portion  of  the  §26,000  of  “  consols  ”  to  which  I  had  reference.  We  then  we 
from  my  desk  to  the  treasurer’s  private  office  where  Mr.  Williams  was  waiting  w 
the  “  peelers  ”  he  had  brought.  I  went  to  the  safe  in  the  treasury  office,  took  c 
the  bundle  I  had  put  there,  and  which  when  I  put  it  there  contained  the  §26,0 
of  “  consols  ”  purchased  by  auditor  Rogers  of  Mr.  Maury.  On  examining  t 
bundle  now',  I  found  that  it  contained  only  §8,000  (face  value)  of  “  conso 
treasurer  Mayo  having  already  exchanged  for  “  peelers  ”  §18,000  (face  value) 
these  “  consols.”  I  took  the  §8,000  of  “  consols  ”  which  remained,  and  propos 
to  Mr.  Williams  to  exchange  them  with  him  for  his  “  peelers  ”  as  far  as  th 
would  go  ;  treasurer  Wayo  being  present  and  assenting  to  the  proposition.  J 
Williams  accepted  the  proposition,  and  the  exchange  was  made  on  the  basis 
allowing  three  and  a  haif  cents  in  the  dollar  of  the  face  value  of  the  bonds 
“  difference  ”  between  the  “  consols  ”  and  the  “  peelers.”  Then  I  made  the  c 
culation,  deducted  from  the  amount  of  “  peelers  ”  brought  by  Mr.  Williams  5 
§23,200  (face  value)  the  $S,ooo  (face  value)  of  “  consols  ”  plus  the  amount  allow 
as  “  difference  ”  on  the  said  §8,ooo,  say.  $280  in  currency ;  or  calculating  t 
“  difference  ”  in  “  peelers  ”  at  the  price  at  which  Mr.  Williams  had  made  the  s 
to  treasurer  Mayo  originally — which  was  fifty  cents  in  the  dollar  of  their  f; 
value — it  made  §560  (face  value)  in  “  peelers  thus  making  §8,560  (face  vain 
ol  “  peelers  to  be  deducted  from  the  §23,200  (face  value)  of  “  peelers  ”  orii 
nally  sold  by  Mr.  Williams  to  treasurer  Mayo  for  the  sinking  fund,  and  leavl 
§14,640  (face  value)  of  “  peelers  ”  delivered  by  Mr.  Williams,  for  which  he  v 
entitled  to  be  paid  in  money  at  fifty  cents  in  the  dollar  of  their  face  value.  The 
upon  I  drew  an  order  in  favor  of  Mr.  Williams,  or  in  favor  of  Isaacs,  Taylor 
Williams,  for  a  warrant  for  §7,320  to  be  issued  by  the  second  auditor  to  pay 
these  §14,640  (face  value)  of  “  peelers.”  This  order  was  then  taken  to  the  secc 
auditor’s  office,  and  a  warrant  issued  accordingly. 

I  he  original  order  drawn  by  me  on  that  occasion  is  now  on  file  in  the  sea 
auditor  s  office  (or  ought  to  be).  There  will  be  found  appended  to  it  the  rect 
signed  by  Mr.  William^,  and  the  text  and  purport  of  it  will  corroborate  this, 
statement  of  this  transaction.  It  has  been  variously  stated  by  Mr.  Williams  ; 
treasurer  Mayo,  both  being  essentially  inaccurate.  I  prove  my  statement  true1! 
reference  to  the  original  order  and  Mr.  Williams’s  receipt. 

When  I  suggested  to  treasurer  Mayo  to  exchange  these  “  consols  ”  with  a 
Williams  for  his  “  peelers,”  it  was  my  idea  to  put  the  “  difference  ”  which  wol 


e thereby  acquired  into  the  sinking  fund,  and  treat  it  as  a  sort  oi  surplus  of  bonds 
n  hand  beyond  what  had  been  acquired  by  purchase.  My  purpose  was  to  ap- 
end  a  note  to  the  next  annual  report  of  the  sinking  fund,  reciting  the  fact  that 
lis  exchange  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  had  been  made,  and  stating  the  amount 
lereby  added  to  the  sinking  fund,  just  as  in  the  first  annual  report  I  had  stated 
1  a  note  that  $10,000  of  consolidated  bonds  had  been,  that  year,  purchased  by 
le  board  of  public  works,  and  transferred  to  the  sinking  fund.  This  was  the 
nly  method  that  I  thought  of  at  the  time  by  which  so  anomalous  a  transaction 
Duld  be  embraced  in  the  account  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  for  in  accordance  with  the 
/stem  of  orders  for  warrants,  warrants  for  checks,  and  checks  for  currency 
nployed  in  the  several  departments  of  the  state  goverment,  no  warrant  could  be 
rawn  to  embrace  and  explain  on  its  face  the  nature  and  particulars  of  the  trans¬ 
ition  with  Mr.  Williams.  But  on  mentioning  the  subject  to  treasurer  Mayo 
jain,  some  time  subsequent  to  the  transaction,  he  told  me  that  he  considered 
iat  we  were  entitled  to  the  “  difference  ”  acquired  by  reason  of  the  exchange  of 
consols  with  Mr.  Williams  for  his  “  peelers.”  He  said  the  sinking  fund  had 
)  right  to  it,  because  it  would  be  wrong  for  the  commonwealth  to  make  any 
ich  “  difference  ”  between  her  own  bonds  in  swapping  one  for  another.  After 
>me  further  conversation  on  the  subject,  I  adopted  his  view  of  the  matter.  And 
treasurer  Mayo  had  already  exchanged  the  greater  part  of  the  $26,000  of  “  con- 
ls  in  question,  and  taken  the  “  difference  ”  himself,  I  considered  myself  entitled 
the  “  difference  ”  received  from  Mr.  Williams,  and  thereafter  treated  it 
cordingly. 

A  month  or  so  before  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th 
73,  as  a  preliminary  to  making  out  the  annual  report  of  the  sinking  fund  for 
at  year,  I  went  to  the  treasury  safe,  (treasurer  Mayo,  being  present  and  assist - 
1  ail<^  t°°k:  out  all  the  coupon  bonds  I  found  there  belonging  to  the  sinking 
id,  for  the  purpose  of  having  them  converted  into  registered  bonds  in  the  name 
the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund.  On  examining  the  bonds  I  found  that 
of  them  were  “  peelers;”  and  I  also  found  that  some  of  them  had  coupons  for 
preceding  January  and  July  both  ;  some  for  the  preceding  July  only,  and  some 
the  preceding  January  only.  Of  the  latter  I  found  that  the  coupons  for  Jan- 
y  and  July  both  had  been  cut  off  and  the  coupon  for  January,  but  not  for  July, 

1  afterwards  been  pinned  on.  This  I  considered  indicative  of  a  mere  mistake, 
ne  former  owner  had  probably  cut  off  at  one  time  the  coupons  for  January  and 
being  for  one  year  s  interest  on  the  bond,  probably  in  one  piece,  and  the 
id  being  afterwards  sold  between  January  and  July,  in  pinning  on  the  coupon  to 
with  the  bond,  that  for  January  had  been  pinned  on  instead  of  that  for  July, 
entioned  the  matter  to  treasurer  Mayo  at  the  time,  but  as  it  made  no  difference 
itever  in  the  amount  of  interest  collectible  on  the  bond,  we  both  concluded 
.  it  was  not  worth  notice.  Some  of  these  bonds  had  no  coupons  for  either  July 
:  anuary  having  been  purchased  after  the  1st,  of  July. 

proceeded  to  takeoff  from  the  bonds  all  the  January  and  July  coupons,  and  as 
so  I  put  them  into  a  small  paper  box  beside  me,  placed  there  for  the  purpose, 

[  a  not  count  them  at  that  time  for  the  reason  that  it  was  tedious  work  taking  them 
1  and  I  considered  that  I  could  count  them  some  other  time  as  well  ;  my  chief  pur- 
1  t°  arran»e  t^ie  bonds  themselves  for  conversion  into  registered 

s. .  When  I  had  completed  the  work  of  removing  the  coupons  I  put  the 
.r  box  containing  them  into  the  treasury  safe,  where  it  remained  some  time, 
or  six  weeks,  I  think,  until  I  had  occasion  to  take  it  out  as  stated  in  the 

Having  thus  removed  and  put  away  all  the  January  and  July  coupons'  from 
•on  s,  I  next  arranged  the  bonds  themselves  in  their  numerical  order,  for  the 


convenience  of  the  second  auditor’s  transfer  clerk,  whom  I  had  to  get  to  cor 
vert  them  into  registered  bonds.  Then  I  put  them  all  up  into  packages  of  $io,oc 
each  (face  value)  that  being  the  highest  denomination  of  bonds  issued.  O 
counting  these  packages  after  thus  putting  them  up,  I  found  that  there  were  ju: 
seventeen  of  them,  making  the  amount  of  these  “  peelers  ”  then  on  hand  $170,00 
(face  value).  To  treasurer  Mayo,  then  present,  1  told  the  amount  and  he  then 
upon  informed  me  that  he  had  taken  out  a  lot  of  “  consols  ”  belonging  to  tf 
sinking  fund  to  “  exchange  ”  them  for  “  peelers  ”  but  had  not  yet  completed  tl 
said  exchange.  I  do  not  remember  the  amount,  if  he  named  it.  In  reply,  I  to!  j 
him  that  I  would  not  make  out  the  report  of  the  sinking  fund  until  after  the  1st  'j 
October  and  he  would  have  time  enough  to  complete  the  exchange  before  I  w 
ready  to  count  the  bonds.  But  he  has  never  said  anythin  j-  more  to  me  on  tl 
subject,  but  I  supposed  afterwards  that  he  had  completed  the  exchange  and  p 
“  peelers  ”  in  the  place  of  the  “  consols  ”  he  had  taken  out,  though  I  do  not  kncj 
that  he  ever  did. 

That  same  day  I  informed  Mr.  Poiteaux.  the  transfer  clerk  in  the  secoi! 
auditor’s  office,  that  I  had  arranged  these  “  peelers  ”  for  conversion  into  register^ 
bonds  and  requested  him  to  make  the  conversions  as  soon  as  he  conveniently  coul; 
but  he  said  he  was  right  busy  then  and  asked  me  to  let  them  stand  until  he  w; 
less  busy.  I  spoke  to  him  about  them  several  times  afterwards,  but  he  alwas 
put  me  off  to  a  more  convenient  season.  They  remained  just  as  I  had  put  then 
up,  the  seventeen  packages  of  $10,000  each,  from  that  time  until  the  day  of  t: 
investigation  ordered  by  Gov.  Kemper  in  February  1874,  as  hereinafter  relate 
and  were  produced  by  me  in  that  condition  on  that  occasion. 

Not  long  after  this  there  occurred  what  is  known  in  the  financial  world 
“  The  Panic  of  September.”  Under  the  excitement  of  that  revulsion  Virgi; 
bonds  which  had  been  selling  at  over  fifty  cents  in  the  dollar,  went  down  to  fo; 
and  even  less  without  finding  purchasers.  A  few  days  before  this  “  Panic  ”  begi 
while  there  were  strong  symptoms  of  its  coming  prevailing,  Mr.  James  L.  Mai 
came  to  me  and  said  that  he  had  some  $5,000  (face  value)  of  “  peelers  ”  which 
desired  to  sell  in  order  to  get  currency  (which  was  then  already  hard  to  get)  a 
requested  me  to  purchase  them  for  the  sinking  fund.  Me  asked,  I  think,  ce 
in  the  dollar  lor  them,  that  being  the  nominal  rate  quoted  for  them  in  the  stc 
market,  though  there  had  been  no  sales  reported  for  some  time,  I  think.  I  • 
dined  to  make  the  purchase  and  told  Mr.  Maury  that  matters  were  so  unsett 
in  the  stock  market  that  I  thought  it  bad  policy  to  make  any  purchases  of  boi 
for  the  sinking  fund  at  that  time.  I  also  made  a  prediction  to  Mr  Maury  at 
time  (of which  he  reminded  me  afterwards  and  asked  me  how  I  knew  it?)  that 
less  than  thirty  days  from  that  date  “  peelers  ”  would  be  down  to  forty-five  ce 
in  the  dollar  and  probably  less — as  did  actually  happen  in  less  than  twenty  da 
Upon  my  declining  to  make  the  purchase,  Mr.  Maury  went  to  auditor  Rog 
who  sat  at  his  desk  almost,  though  not  quite,  in  sight  of  me.  In  a  few  mini 
afterwards,  auditor  Rogers  came  to  me  and  first  enquired  how  much  money 
sinking  fund  had  at  that  time  on  hand  in  the  treasury.  I  was  sitting  at  my  d 
at  the  time  and  taking  out  and  consulting  a  memorandum  of  the  receipts  ; 
disbursements  of  the  sinking  fund  which  I  had  been  keeping  that  year  for  my  c 
convenience,  I  told  him  that  in  point  of  fact  there  were  only  $30  then  in  the  tr< 
ury  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  but,  I  added,  there  was  a  consider^ 
amount  due  for  interest  on  the  bonds  held  by  the  sinking  fund  which  was  colie 
ble  at  any  time.  He  then  spoke  of  the  “  peelers  ”  which  Mr.  Maury  desiree 
sell,  saying  that  in  his  opinion  the  price  asked  was  low  enough,  and  that  the  s' 
would  be  making  a  very  good  bargain  to  buy  them,  and  that  it  would  be  a  gi 
accommodation  to  Mr.  Maury.  He  then  suggested  that  I  should  at  once  col: 


1(J 


he  interest  due  the  sinking  fund  which  I  had  mentioned,  and  make  the  purchase 
>f  these  “  peelers  ”  from  Mr.  Maury.  I  told  him,  as  I  had  on  a  former  occasion 
>f  a  similar  nature,  that  whatever  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  (of  whom 
le  was  one)  directed  me  to  do,  I,  as  secretary,  would  certainly  do,  and  that  I  had 
jersonally  nothing  to  say.  He  then  left  me,  and  I  went  directly  to  treasurer 
dayo,  in  the  treasury  private  office,  and  informed  him  of  all  that  I  have  just  re- 
ated.  Treasurer  Mayo  said  well,  if  auditor  Rogers  wanted  the  purchase  to  be  made 
>f  Mr.  Maury’s  “  peelers  ”  he  had  no  objection.  Accordingly  I  returned  to  my 
lesk  where  I  found  Mr.  Maury  awaiting  me,  and  told  him  that  as  two  of  the  com- 
nissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  had  agreed  to  make  the  purchase,  it  was  unneces- 
ary,  I  supposed,  to  consult  the  third  (auditor  W.  F.  Taylor),  and  that  therefore  I 
vould  receive  his  “  peelers  ”  for  the  sinking  fund  at  the  price  he  asked  ;  only  he 
vould  have  to  wait,  I  told  him,  an  hour  or  so  for  me  to  put  the  money  in  the 
reasury  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund  to  pay  for  them.  He  seemed  very  much 
(leased,  and  left  me  with  the  understanding  that  he  would  send  up  the  “  peelers  ” 
n  an  hour  or  so.  He  did  send  them.  I.  received  them  at  the  hands  of  Mr. 
lichard  W.  Maury,  and  issued  the  order  for  a  warrant  for  the  money,  and  Mr. 
laury  got  the  warrant  and  check  on  which  he  obtained  the  currency. 

In  the  meantime,  after  Mr.  Maury  had  left  me,  I  went  to  the  treasury  safe, 
^easurer  Mayp  being  present,  and  took  out  the  paper  box  containing  the  coupons 
ffiich  I  had  cut  off  from  the  “  peelers  ”  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund  some  five 
r  six  weeks  previously,  as  I  have  above  related.  I  had  to  hasten  in  order  to  get 
re  transaction  with  Mr.  Maury  completed  within  the  hour  or  two  as  I  had  prom- 
led  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this  haste  I  did  not  stop  in  the  treasury  office  then 
)  count  these  coupons,  but  took  the  box  containing  them  just  as  I  found  it  in  the 
easury  safe,  to  Mr.  DeWitt  in  the  second  auditor’s  office  (it  was  Mr.  DeWitt’s 
usiness  to  make  out  the  proper  papers  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  “cou- 
on  debt,”)  and  requested  him  to  make  out  the  papers  on  which  I  could  get  the 
iterest  for  which  these  coupons  called.  I  told  him  that  I  had  not  counted  them, 
ut  as  he  would  have  to  count  them  over  again,  even  if  I  counted  them  first,  I 
:quested  him  to  take  the  box  and  count  the  coupons  for  me.  He  took  them, 

Iox  and  all  and  carried  them  to  nis  own  table  (in  a  recess  of  one  of  the  windows) 
r  the  purpose  of  counting  them  and  making  out  the  papers  for  the  payment  of 
ie  interest.  But  in  a  little  while  afterwards — it  was  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  per- 
:  ips — he  came  around  to  my  desk  and  handed  me  a  portion  of  the  coupons 
i1  ready  counted,  with  a  memorandum  of  their  amount,  and  told  me  to  make  out 
(|  e  “  coupon  list  ”  for  those  while  he  counted  and  made  out  the  “  coupon  lists  ” 

Ir  the  remainder.  I  did  so  and  then  returned  the  “  coupon  lists  ”  to  him  with 
e  coupons  the  summary  of  which,  as  I  made  it,  agreed  with  the  amount  as 
unfed  by  him  as  per  his  memorandum  handed  me.  These  “  coupon  lists  ”  are 
>w  (or  ought  to  be)  on  file  in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  and  they  will  corrob- 
-  ate  my  statement  about  them.  Some  of  them  are  in  my  handwriting  and  some 
:  Mr.  DeWitt’s. 

In  the  course  of  an  hour  after  this  Mr.  DeWitt  brought  me  the  proper  cer- 
licates  on  which  I  obtained  warrants,  and  on  the  warrants  checks  lor  two- thirds 
the  amount  of  these  coupons,  and  a“  deferred  certificate”  for  the  remaining 
jfird.  The  latter  is  now  (or  ought  to  be)  in  a  little  tin-box  belonging  to  the  sink- 
i  j  fund  where  I  put  it  then,  and  the  checks  I  collected,  (by  transfer  of  the 
-  <  iount  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund,)  and  put  the  voucher  of  the  same  into 
t  -  same  little  tin-box  where  it  now  is,  or  ought  to  be. 

If  you,  Mr.  Wise,  will  now  examine  the  original  warrant  issued  to  Mr.  Maury 
t  pay  for  this  lot  of  bonds,  which  is  now  on  file  in  the  treasury  office,  or  ought  to 
El,  (the  amount  of  the  bonds  was  just  $5,400  (face  value),  1  believe)  you  will  find 


it  dated  the  same  day  as  the  receipt  for  the  money  ($4,050)  paid  into  the  treasui 
by  me  on  account  of  the  interest  on  the  coupon  bonds  belonging  to  the  sinkir 
fund — the  latter  being,  as  1  have  stated,  paid  in  at  that  time  especially  to  meet  tl 
tbrmer.  And  thus  you  will  see  that  my  statement  about  this  transaction  is  tru 

The  interest  on  the  “  registered  debt,”  as  it  is  called,  is  entered  up,  or  credite 
to  the  holders  of  registered  bonds  every  six  months.  About  the  last  of  Septen 
ber,  1873,  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  I  requested  the  clerk  Mr.  Morrison  (wl 
had  charge  of  the  interest  books  of  the  “  registered  debt  ”)  to  ascertain  the  amoui 
due  the  sinking  fund  on  account  of  interest  on  its  registered  bonds  and  give  n 
the  necessary  certificates  for  its  collection.  He  did  so ;  I  collected  the  intere 
and  paid  it  into  the  treasury  (by  transfer)  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund,  ar 
put  all  the  vouchers  relating  to  the  transaction  into  the  little  tin-box  belongir 
to  the  sinking  fund,  where  I  suppose  they  now  are. 

But  after  Mr.  Morrison  had  given  me  the  certificates  for  the  collection  of  th 
interest,  I  myself  computed  the  amount  of  interest  due  the  sinking  fund  on  accou 
of  its  registered  bonds,  and  discovered  that  Mr.  Morrison  had  made  an  err< 
against  the  sinking  fund  in  his  calculation.  I  pointed  out  this  error  to  him  ;  1 
acknowledged  it  and  gave  me  additional  certificates  to  cover  the  amount  of  tl 
error.  If  you  will  now  examine  these  certificates,  which  are  filed  in  the  secoi 
auditor’s  office  (or  ought  to  be)  they  will  corroborate  my  statement  about  th 
transaction. 

About  the  first  of  October  1873  I  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and  went  on1 
visit  to  Danville.  On  my  return  I  found  most  of  the  officers  and  clerks  about  tl 
capitol  very  much  taken  up  with  politics,  the  gubernatorial  election  being  the  a 
sorbing  subject.  I  also  entered  into  the  campaign  work  as  ardently  as  the  othei 
and  as  a  member  of  the  “  Kemper  Kampaign  Klub,”  and  otherwise,  devoted  n 
time  largely  to  the  business  of  securing  the  election  of  Hon  J.  L.  Kemper  1 
governor.  In  consequence  of  this  I  neglected  for  several  weeks  to  make  out  til 
annual  report  of  the  sinking  fund  for  that  year.  But  I  considered  that  there  w 
no  occasion  for  great  promptness  about  it ;  the  legislature  was  not  to  meet  th 
year  till  January;  none  of  the  reports  of  public  officers  had  been  made  01 
scarcely  any  of  them  even  had  been  commenced.  One  day,  however, — I  thirl 
it  was  about  a  week  after  the  election — the  second  auditor  (Gen.  Rogers)  ask( 
me  to  let  him  see  my  report  of  the  sinking  fund  for  that  year,  saying  that  1 
wished  to  make  a  complimentary  reference  to  it  in  his  annual  report  on  the  publ 
debt.  (He  had  never  made  any  allusion  to  the  sinking  fund  in  any  manner  in  ai 
former  report.)  I  told  him  I  had  not  yet  made  out  my  report,  but  would  do  :f 
at  once  and  give  him  a  copy.  He  replied  that  that  would  not  be  necessary  ;  th 
he  only  wanted  to  make  a  passing  reference  to  the  sinking  fund  in  his  report, 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  was  absorbing  the  state  debt  to  an  encouragit 
degree,  and  that  if  I  would  give  him  the  principal  items  of  information  on  tl 
subject  that  would  be  sufficient  for  his  purpose.  Thereupon  I  prepared  a  rou< 
statement  showing  the  amounts,  respectively,  of  the  receipts,  the  disbursement 
and  the  bonds  (the  face  value)  purchased  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  Septemb 
30th,  1873,  which  I  handed  him. 

From  this  very  same  statement  (the  identical  copy  I  handed  auditor  Roger 
I  afterwards  made  out  the  “  report  of  the  operations  of  the  commissioners  of  ti 
sinking  fund  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th  1873.”  Copies  oft! 
report,  as  printed  and  laid  before  the  legislature,  are  of  easy  access  to  you  and 
beg  that  you  will  examine  it.  You  will  find  it  entirely  accurate  in  every  respec 

In  another  connection  hereinafter  you  will  perceive  the  importance  of  tl 
enquiry  :  How  was  this  statement  prepared  ?  And  here  is  the  answer  :  From  t! 
original  orders,  for  warrants  issued  and  signed  by  me  and  filed  in  the  secon 


lditor’s  office.  I  did  indeed,  for  convenience,  consult  the  memorandum  which 
had  kept  in  my  desk  of  the  disbursements  and  receipts  of  the  sinking  fund,  but 
verified  it  by  comparison  with  these  original  orders . 

After  keeping  this  statement  several  days,  auditor  Rogers  returned  it  to  me, 
.ying  that  that  was  not  exactly  what  he  wanted  ;  that  he  wanted  to  know,  how 
any  of  the  bonds  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund  were  11  consols  ”  and  how 
any  were  “  peelers.”  I  replied  that  in  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  sinking  fund 
)  distinction  had  been  made  between  these  two  series  of  bonds,  but  all  were  en- 
red  alike  as  “  consolidated  bonds.”  I  could  however  by  examining  the  orders 
ake  out  a  statement  to  show  which  of  the  various  purchases  were  “  consols  ” 
id  which  were  “  peelers.”  Any  one  can  see  that  this  was  easily  done;  for  after 
e  appearance  of  “  peelers  ”  no  “  consols  ”  at  all  had  been  purchased,  except  the 
>6,000  of  them  purchased  by  auditor  Rogers  of  Mr.  Maury,  while  before 
peelers  ”  appeared  all  purchases  were  of  “  consols.”  I  had  therefore  but  to 
ake  the  calculation  with  reference  to  this  fact,  and  the  result  would  give  the 
isire'd  information.  He  requested  me  to  do  so  and  I  did.  On  handing  him  the 
itement  thus  calculated,  he  said  it  was  satisfactory,  and  never  mentioned  the 
bject  to  me  afterwards. 

I  pass  on  now  to  another  episode  in  the  history  of  my  connection  with  the 
iking  fund  as  its  secretary.  Under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of  assembly,  passed 
1853,  the  Richmond  and  Danville  railroad  company  obtained  a  loan  of  $600, 
>o,  upon  certain  terms  which  required  the  said  company  to  pay  into  the  treasury 
e  sum  of  $21,000  every  six  months  until  the  said  loan,  principal  and  interest, 
ould  be  liquidated.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  1872  I  called  the  attention  of  auditor 
lylor  to  the  fact  that  these  semi-annual  payments  were  being  made  through  his 
ice  and  erroneously  passed  to  the  credit  of  the  “  internal  improvement  fund,” 
lereas  they  should,  under  the  provisions  of  the  “  funding  bill,”  have  gone  to  the 
edit  of  the  sinking  fund.  Up  to  that  time  the  company  had,  I  believe,  made 
•ee  ol  these  semi-annual  payments  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  the  “  funding 
1,”  making  the  sum  of  $63,000  which  had  been  erroneously  withheld  from  the 
king  fund.  Auditor  Taylor  admitted  the  correctness  of  my  view  of  the  matter 
p  expressed  his  willingness  to  have  the  correction  made.  I  also  called  the  at- 
ition  of  auditor  Rogers  and  treasurer  Mayo  to  the  subject ;  but  up  to  the  close 
the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th,  1873,  nothing  had  been  done  in  the 
:  anises,  and  the  money  still  stood  on  the  treasurer’s  books  to  the  credit  of  the 
'iternal  improvement  fund,”  instead  of  the  sinking  fund.  I  considered  that  I 
1 1  done  all  that  was  proper  for  me  to  do,  in  that  I  had  given  all  three  of  the 
:  nmissioners  of  the  Unking  fund  the  necessary  information  on  which  they  could 
.  if  they  chose  to  do  so,  and  for  my  part  I  concluded  to  do  nothing  further  in 
1  matter  ;  and  thus  it  rested  for  about  a  year. 

I  But  some  weeks  after  my  return  from  my  visit  to  Danville  in  October,  1873, 
Usurer  Mayo  told  me  that  he  had  arranged  with  auditor  Taylor,  to  have  this 
r  ney  ($63,000  in  currency)  transferred  to  the  sinking  fund  ;  and,  on  the  strength 
lit,  had  given  an  order  to  the  Planters’  National  Bank  to  purchase  a  large  amount 
>:  ponds  for  the  sinking  fund  at  the  then  prevailing  “  panic  prices.”  Within  a 
1  weeks  thereafter,  the  Planters’  National  Bank  did  make  purchases  for  the 
i  ;ing  fund  amounting  to  over  $1 10.000,  at  the  then  prevailing  “  panic  prices.” 
it  of  these  bonds  were  “  consols  ”  and  part”  peelers.”  Treasurer  Mayo  received 
h  n  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Quarles,  the  bank  cashier,  and  I  had  nothing  to  do 
lii  the  transaction,  except  that  by  direction  of  treasurer  Mayo,  I  drew  an  order 
3  warrants  to  pay  for  them. 

Near  about  this  same  time  (during  the  prevalence  of  the  “  Panic  ”),  treasurer 
1U0  also  purchased  a  small  lot  of  “  consols  ”  (about  $2,000,  face  value,  I  believe) 


•)•) 


of  Messrs.  Davenport  &  Co.,  through  Mr.  Charles  E.  Wortham  of  that  fir 
And  these  also  were  purchased  at  “  panic  prices.” 

These  transactions,  to  wit :  The  purchase  by  the  Planters’  National  Bank,  a 
this  small  purchase  from  Messrs.  Davenport  &  Co.  (both  made  by  treasui 
Mayo),  and  the  purchase  of  $26,000,  face  value,  made  by  auditor  Rogers,  of  M« 
srs.  R.  H.  Maury  &  Co.,  comprised  all  the  “  consols  ”  that  ever  were  purchas 
for  the  sinking  fund  after  “  peelers  ”  first  appeared  in  the  stock  markets. 

I  have  related  all  I  know  touching  the  disposition  made  of  the  $70,000 
“consols”  into  which  the  seven  $10,000  registered  bonds  belonging  to  the  sin 
ing  fund  were  converted.  Namely,  that  I  exchanged  $10,000  of  them  w 
Campbell  for  “peelers,”  dollar  for  dollar,  and  put  the  “peelers”  into  the  treasuj 
safe  in  place  of  the  “consols.”  Treasurer  Mayo  undertook  to  exchange  the  r 
maining  $60,000;  his  plan  being  to  sell  the  “consols”  and  buy  “peelers,”  in  lieu 
them,  to  the  same  amount  as  their  face  value.  From  the  testimony  of  Jno. 
Davis,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Planters’  National  Bank,  and  of  others,  before  t 
joint  committee  of  the  legislature,  it  was  proven  that  he  did  sell  these  “consol:; 
they  being  identified  by  the  serial  numbers  which  they  bore.  Whether  he  e\| 
purchased  “peelers,”  in  lieu  of  them,  to  the  same  amount  as  their  face  value,  or, 
any  amount,  except  perhaps  some  $28,000  which  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  testimoi 
before  the  same  committee  testified  that  he  purchased  for  him  ? — is  one  of  t 
most  important  questions  connected  with  the  deficit  which  was  discover 
on  counting  the  bonds  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund.  But  upon  this  quo 
tion  there  has  never  been  any  evidence  adduced,  and  I  am  altogether  without  i| 
formation. 

I  have  also  related  all  I  know  about  the  disposition  made  of  the  $26,000 
“consols”  which  auditor  Rogers  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund  from  Messrs.  , 
H.  Maury  &  Co.  Namely,  that  I  exchanged  $8,000  of  them  for  “peelers”  doh 
for  dollar  with  Mr.  J.  C.  Williams,  of  the  firm  of  Isaacs,  Taylor  &  William 
and  that  treasurer  Mayo  told  me  at  the  time  that  he  had  then  already  exchang 
the  other  porfion  of  them.  The  “peelers”  I  received  from  Mr.  Williams  I  f 
in  the  place  of  the  “consols”  for  which  I  exchanged  them  ;  and  at  the  same  tii| 
put  with  them  the  $560  of  “peelers”  which  he  allowed  as  “difference”  in  the  q 
change,  but  which  afterwards,  on  conference  with  treasurer  Mayo,  I  was  convinq 
did  not  belong  to  the  sinking  fund,  but  to  me.  Whether  treasurer  Mayo  in  q 
changing  the  $18,000  of  these  “consols”  made  the  said  exchange  for  “peeler 
dollar  for  dollar,  or  how  he  arranged  the  transactions  he  has  never  told  me,  and 
know  nothing  about  it. 

It  but  remains  for  me  to  state  what  I  know-  about  the  disposition  made 
the  $2,000  of  "consols”  purchased  by  treasurer  Mayo  for  the  sinking  fund  fra 
Messrs.  Davenport  &  Co.;  and  if  those  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund,  on  treasuj 
Mayo’s  order,  by  the  Planters’  National  Bank.  The  aggregate  amount  of  thJ 
two  purchases  was  a'bout  $60,000  of  “consols.”  Of  these  all  I  ever  had  anythin 
to  do  with  I  exchanged  dollar  for  dollar  for  “peelers”  with  Maj.  John  P.  Bran', 
of  the  firm  of  Thos.  Branch  &  Co.,  receiving  the  “difference”  in  currency  1 
checks.  The  testimony  of  Major  Branch  before  the  joint  committee  of  the  le 
islature  on  this  subject  is  entirely  correct ;  and  the  amount  I  exchanged  with  hi 
was,  as  he  stated,  $34,400  of  “consols.”  These  exchanges  I  made  with  him  l 
three  different  occasions  :  first,  an  exchange  of  $10,000 ;  next,  of  $4,400,  al 
lastly  of  $20,000.  And  on  every  one  of  these  occasions,  except  the  last,  I  p;l 
treasurer  Mayo  one-half  of  the  amount  of  money  I  had  received  as  “differenc1 
telling  him  at  the  time  all  the  particulars  of  the  transaction. 

Of  the  remainder  of  these  “  consols,”  I  only  know  that  treasurer  Mayo  td 
me  he  had  exchanged  them  for  "  peelers.”  One  day  about  the  first  of  Februa, 


20 


4.,  or  the  last  week  in  January,  I  went  into  the  treasurer’s  private  office  and 
iere  found  treasurer  Mayo  alone  with  Mr.  W.  G.  Taylor  of  the  firm  of  Isaacs, 
aylor  &  Williams.  Mr.  Taylor  was  nearly  in  the  act  of  leaving  as  1  entered 
ie  room.  As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  treasurer  Mayo  took  out  of  his  pocket  a  roll 
:  bank  notes,  and  counted  them  over  in  my  presence ;  they  amounted  to  $300, 
id  he  then  counted  out  $150  of  the  said  bank  notes,  and  handed  them  to  me, 
lling  me  that  it  was  for  my  part  of  the  “  difference  ”  wh'teh  he  had  just  received, 

1  account  of  exchanging  $10,000  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers.” 

In  concluding  my  statement  of  the  whole  business  of  these  exchanges  of 
consols  ”  for  “  peelers,”  it  is  but  just  to  myself  to  say,  that  I  never  dreamed  of 
ffrauding  the  sinking  fund  out  of  a  solitary  cent  to  which  it  was  entitled.  I 
;ver  made  any  more  secret  of  the  matter,  than  business  men  ordinarily  make  of 
asiness  transactions,  and  every  one  of  the  gentlemen  with  whom  I  made  exchan- 
;s  was  fully  informed  by  me  that  I  was  acting  in  connection  with  treasurer 
'ayo,  and  with  his  approval.  My  view  of  these  transactions  was  formed  after  dis¬ 
using  the  subject  with  other  gentlemen,  whose  opinions  I  adopted  ;  and  I  acted 
so  with  reference  to  precedents  of  a  similar  nature  which  had  come  to  my  know- 
dge  in  the  capitol ;  and  whatever  may  be  the  various  views  of  the  subject,  in  its 
oral  and  ethical  aspect,  I  believe  that  even  my  enemies  must  admit,  in  all  can- 
iur,  that  there  was,  at  least,  an  absence  of  what  the  law  calls  the  animus  furandi. 
do  not  mean  now  to  impugn  my  own  conduct  in  the  premises,  by  offering  the 
penitential  plea  ”  that  I  believed  I  was  lights  of  course  I  believed  it  and  I  be¬ 
ne  it  now.  But  the  question  is  susceptible  of  a  juridical  settlement,  just  like  any 
her  controversy  relating  to  property,  between  men  in  a  civilized  community. 

can  be  settled  by  a  civil  action  at  law.  The  attorney  general  can  bring  this 
:tion  at  any  time,  and  I  have  only  to  say  that  whenever  a  jury,  with  all  the  facts 
Tore  them,  shall  decide  that  the  “difference”  between  the  “consols”  belonging  to 
e  sinking  fund  and  the  “  peelers  ”  for  which  they  were  exchanged,  as  I  have\ 
irein  related,  ought  to  have  been  paid  into  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  sink- 
g  fund,  then  every  cent  of  that  “  difference  ”  received  by  me  shall  be  so  paid  into 
e  treasury,  with  interest  from  the  day  it  went  into  my  pocket.  I  do  not  mean 
argue  the  question  here,  but  would  only  ask :  What  amount  of  such  “  differ- 
ice  ”  could  the  slate  sue  for?  At  the  time  these  exchanges  were  made,  the 
leculative  schemes  of  the  brokers  had  raised  the  premiuyn  against  the  good  faith 
id  honest  purpose  of  the  commonwealth  to  three  cents  in  the  dollar  of  the  face 
due  of  these  bonds.  They  have  now  raised  it  to  thirty.  But  as  soon  as  ever,  the 
ite  resumes  the  payment  of  interest  on  her  debt  it  will  be  reduced  to  zero.  Is 
not  manifest,  therefore,  that  this  arbitrary  “  difference  ”  between  “  consols  ”  and 
peelers  ”  is  a  stock-jobber’s  speculation  upon  the  good  faith  and  honest  purpose 
the  commonwealth  towards  her  creditors  ?  Would  it  not  then,  I  submit,  be 
ainst  sound  public  morals  for  the  commonwealth  to  receive,  either  directly  or 
directly,  any  pecuniary  profit  by  means  of  legislation  which  had  engendered 
lit  distrust  of  her  own  good  faith  and  honest  purpose  towards  her  credi¬ 
ts,  on  which  the  stock-jobbers  were  thus  speculating?  But  I  do 
i  t  wish,  by  an  obstinate  contention  upon  this  point,  to  weary  the  patience 
:  those  who  are  kindly  disposed  to  give  me  a  hearing  in  this  presenta- 
|n  of  my  case.  I  will  only  repeat,  that  whenever  a  jury  shall  decide  that  this 
difference  ”  belongs  to  the  sinking  fund,  then  every  cent  of  it  ever  received  by 
1 :  shall  be  duly  paid,  with  interest  in  full.  Let  it  be  remembered,  however,  in 
t  s  connection,  that  these  exchanges  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  formed  no  part 
C  the  offence  which  has  been  imputed  to  me.  Nothing  has  been  made  known 
lut  them,  or  would  be,  except  by  the  statement  of  all  the  facts  which  I  myself 
fe  voluntarily  made. 


24 


There  is  another  episode  in  the  history  of  my  connection  with  the  sinking  func 
which  it  is  only  just  to  myself  to  relate  here.  During  the  legislative  session  c 
1872-73,  I  consulted  with  the  two  auditors  (Taylor  and  Rogers)  and  the  treasure 
(Mayo)  in  reference  to  a  large  amount  of  state  bonds  which  had  been  receive 
on  account  of  the  sale  of  the  state’s  interest  in  several  internal  improvement  corr 
panies.  These  bonds  amounted  to  several  millions  of  dollars,  and  were  lyin 
about — some  in  one  office  and  some  in  another — in  a  neglected  and  unsafe  cond 
tion.  I  suggested  that  the  legislature  be  asked  to  pass  an  act  to  have  them  counte'1 
and  then  cancelled  and  put  away  safely,  to  await  a  settlement  between  the  state 
of  Virginia  and  West  Virginia  touching  the  public  debt.  Auditor  Rogers  am 
treasurer  Mayo  both  assented,  but  auditor  Taylor  at  first  objected  to  any  cancella 
tion  of  the  bonds.  He  said  there  would  probably  be  a  deficit  in  the  treasur 
which  would  have  to  be  met  by  a  temporary  loan,  and  he  wanted  these  bonds  t 
put  up  as  “  collateral  ”  for  the  loan  I  answered  his  objection  by  telling  him  tha! 
if  there  should  be  a  deficit,  which  in  my  opinion  was  improbable,  (it  turned  ou 
that  there  was  none ;  the  taxes  came  in  in  time  to  meet  all  the  payments,  and  lei 
a  small  surplus  that  year,  I  believe)  that  the  state  could  borrow  what  money  sh 
might  need  from  the  state  depositories,  for  they  had  had  the  use  of  the  publi 
monies  and  ought  to  accommodate  her  whenever  she  asked  it;  and  that  if  sh 
did  borrow  money  from  them  she  would,  of  course,  have  to  give  her  obligation  fo! 
the  amount  borrowed  which  would  be  amply  sufficient  without  “  collateral an* 
as  to  putting  up  these  bonds  as  “  collateral,”  it  would  be  as  if  a  man  were  *o  giv 
his  note  for  borrowed  money  and  then  offer  his  own  bond  of  a  previous  date  a 
security  ;  which  would  be  absurd.  Auditor  Taylor  then  withdrew  his  objection 
and  I  prepared  a  bill  to  be  offered  in  the  legislature  for  the  purpose  indicated 
This  bill  I  handed  to  auditor  Taylor  to  lay  before  the  finance  committee  of  th 
house  of  delegates  which  met  in  his  office.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  brought  i 
back  to  me  and  said  that  a  member  of  the  committee  had  suggested  that  all  th 
bonds  belonging  to  commonwealth,  including  those  purchased  for  the  sinking 
fund,  ought  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  manner  provided  for  in  “  your  bill  ” — mean  ins 
that  I  was  the  author  of  the  bill.  I  replied  that  I  thought  so  too,  but  that  in  nr 
opinion  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  were  already  authorized  by  law  t 
make  such  a  disposition  of  the  bonds  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund,  and  I  ha* 
supposed  that  they  would  do  so,  if  they  thought  proper.  However,  I  added] 
perhaps  it  might  be  well  to  “  make  a  lumping  business  of  it  ”  in  the  bill  and  thu 
simplify  the  whole  matter.  I  then  went  to  second  auditor  Rogers  and  treasure 
Mayo  ;  told  them  what  auditor  Taylor  had  told  me,  and  proposed  that  I  should  alte' 
my  bill  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  made.  They  both  agreed,  and  I  the 
drafted  the  bill  anew  accordingly.  In  its  amended  form  I  procured  it  to  b 
copied  by  Mr.  Henry,  (the  best  pensman  about  the  capitol),  and  gave  it  back  t 
auditor  Taylor  to  lay  before  the  committee  on  finance  That  committee  in  a  fe\ 
days  afterwards  reported  it  in  the  house  of  delegates  for  passage.  It  was  printe* 
and  placed  on  the  calendar  of  the  house.  In  a  conversation  with  the  distir 
guished  gentleman  who  was  then  the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  (Hor 
R.  T.  Daniel,  nowr  dead)  I  explained  the  necessity  for  the  passage  of  the  bill  am 
urged  him  to  get  the  legislature  to  pass  it.  It  was  not,  however,  passed,  bu 
stood  on  the  unfinished  calendar  at  the  time  of  the  adjournment  of  the  legislative 
session. 

In  the  “  report  of  the  committee  for  courts  of  justice  relative  to  the  responsi 
bility  of  the  auditor,  second  auditor,  and  late  treasurer  for  default  or  loss  to  th 
sinking  fund  ”  [House  Doc.  No. — session  of  1873-74],  there  is  embodied  th 
opinion  of  the  attorney  general  responsive  to  enquiries  propounded  to  him  b 
said  committee.  At  that  time  the  same  distinguished  gentleman,  whom  I  hav 


med  as  the  chairman  of  the  house  finance  committee,  had  been  elected  attorney 
neral,  and  it  is  his  opinion  to  which  reference  is  made.  He  mentions  in  the 
id  opinion  the  bill,  to  which  I  have  referred,  providing  for  the  cancellation  of  all 
2se  bonds  and  characterizes  the  said  bill  as — a  measure  which  would  have 
ide  this  loss  impossible.”  But  he  adds  that  “  it  did  not  become  a  law.”  It  was 
rtainly  by  no  fault  of  mine  that  the  said  bill  “  did  not  become  a  law,”  for  I 
;d  every  exertion  to  secure  its  passage,  and  was  the  author  of  the  bill.  If  any- 
dy  was  to  blame  for  its  non-passage,  it  was  the  distinguished  gentleman  named, 
nself,  to  whom,  as  the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  was  allotted  the  honor 
pressing  all  such  measures  through  the  legislature.  In  the  “  opinion  ”  which 
gave  to  the  committee  for  courts  of  justice  the  singular  mistake  is  made  of 
ributing  to  auditor  Taylor  the  authorship  of  the  bill  mentioned,  and  the  fact  is 
erred  to  as  a  reason  for  exculpating  auditor  Taylor  from  responsibility  for  the 
s  of  bonds.  But  auditor  Taylor  well  knows  that  the  real  fact  is  as  I  have  here- 
stated  it ;  and  that  the  measure  was  devised  and  proposed  by  me  and  not  by 
i,  and  that  this  effort  to  render  the  loss  of  bonds  impossible  was  my  effort  and 
:  his.  At  the  time  the  report  of  the  committee  for  courts  of  justice  embody- 
;  this  “  opinion  ”  of  the  attorney  general  was  published,  I  was  a  helpless' pris- 
;r,  and  not  permitted  to  even  see  the  report  in  which  the  “  opinion  ”  appeared 
ch  less  to  say  anything  in  my  own  behalf  in  the  premises.  Under  such  cir- 
nstances  I  do  not  think  that  auditor  Taylor  ought  to  have  (by  his  silence,  and 
are  to  disavow  it),  appropriated  the  exculpation  given  to  him  by  the  attorney 
teral,  when  he  well  knew  that  the  credit  for  this  effort  to  protect  the  common- 
ilth  from  the  loss  of  bonds  belonged  to  me,  and  not  to  him. 

I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  submit  right  here,  a  few  reflections  upon  the  opera- 
j'S  of  the  sinking  fund  during  the  period  of  my  tenure  of  office  as  secretary, 
ch  I  may  call  the  arithmetic  of  the  situation. 

A  joint  committee  of  the  legislature  investigated  the  affairs  of  the  sinking 
1  in  the  month  of  February  1874,  at  the  close  of  my  connection  with  the  same 
Secretary,  and  from  this  report,  the  facts  are  established  as  follows : 

From  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund 
er  the  provisions  of  the  “funding  bill,”  the  date  namely  August  2nd,  1871  up 
ie  5th  of  February  1874,  the  date  namely  of  my  removal  from  office  as  sec- 
Jry,  there  was  paid  out  of  the  treasury  on  account  of  the  sinking  fund  the  sum 
i93>7^8,56  money  ;  for  which  consolidated  states  bonds  issued  under  the  pro- 
(•ns. of  the  “funding  bill”  were  purchased  to  the  amount  of  $376,710,61  (face 
ie)  ;  while  the  entire  expenses  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund 
1,  unted  to  only  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

Of  the  state  bonds  so  purchased  there  were  in  the  hands  of  the  said  joint 
1  mittee  of  investigation  the  amount  of  $360,770,72  (face  value).  It  therefore 
i.'ared.  that  there  was  a  deficit  of  bonds  amounting  to  $15,939,89  (face  value) 

||  counted  for.  As  to  this  deficit  I  have  no  knowledge  myself,  but  the  conjec- 
r  I  have  formed  will  no  doubt  occur  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  as  to  any  other  intelli- 
reader  of  what  I  have  written  hereinbefore. 

hor  the  purpose  of  this  arithmetical  statement  of  the  situation,  let  us  concede 
1  his  amount  ($360,770,72,  (face  value)  of  bonds  is  all  that  the  sum  expended 
( ',,768,56)  in  money  has  produced,  or  will  produce  for  the  sinking  fund.  These 
jj 3  are  ah  consolidated  bonds  ;  that  is  to  say  they  are  each  the  obligation  of 
-  ate  of  Virginia  for  two-thirds  of  the  amount  of  principal  and  interest  of 
0  er  bond  issued  by  her  heretofore  in  order  to  raise  money  to  construct  her 
fr  internal  improvement,  the  other  one-third  of  said  bond  having  been 
Red  to  her  by  compromise  with  her  creditors  through  the  “funding  bill.” 
h  i  issued  the  state  of  Virginia  received  for  each  of  these  bonds  not  less  than 


one  hundred  cents  in  the  dollar  of  their  face  value,  and  sometimes  a  premiun 
ten  per  cent,  and  over ;  and  the  money  she  so  received  was  gold  and  silver,  or  tl 
equivalents. 

In  fine,  the  arithmetic  of  the  situation  may  be  stated  as  follows  :  During 
two  years  and  six  months  ol  my  service  as  secretary  to  the  sinking  fund,  the 
penses  amounted  only  to  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  of  which  not  one  cent  1 
ever  paid  to  me  ;  for  $193,768.56  of  money  disbursed  there  had  been  purcha 
and  were  then  on  hand  consolidated  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $360,770.72, 
average  price  paid  for  said  bonds  being  fifty-three  cents  and  seven  mills  for  e; 
dollar  of  their  face  value.  So,  notwithstanding  the  loose  manner  in  which 
affairs  of  the  sinking  fund  had  been  managed  by  the  commissioners  the  resul 
the  operations  during  my  tenure  of  office  as  their  secretary  showed  that  someth 
like  half  a  million  of  dollars  of  the  debt  of  the  state  had  been  liquidated  at  a  1 
per  centum  which  the  creditors  of  a  private  bankrupt  would  be  very  loti 
receive  in  discharge  of  their  claims.  And  let  it  be  remembered  too  that 
$193,768.56  used  in  buying  up  these  bonds  did  not  come  from  the  pockets  of 
heavily-taxed  people  but  was  realized  from  the  unexpected  collection  of  the  s 
posed  worthless  claims  of  the  commonwealth  against  insolvent  debtors  like  Seld 
Withers  &  Co.  As  the  negligence  of  the  commissioners  has  been  used  to  inj 
no  one  but  me,  it  would  seem  but  only  fair  now  that  the  credit  for  this  imme 
reduction  of  the  debt  of  the  state  on  terms  so  favorable  to  the  people  ought  tc 
considered  in  my  favor  ! 

I  have  now  brought  the  narrative  of  my  connection  with  the  sinking  fi 
down  to  the  period  which  I  indicated  in  the  outset  as  “a  former  occasion  w 
you  were  the  prosecutor  and  I  the  accused.”  I  now  propose  to  speak  of  that 
casion  and  to  lay  the  real  facts  before  the  public  in  a  plain,  unvarnished  tale, 
adorned  by  the  art  of  dialectics.  I  come  now,  therefore  to  open  the  second  ch 
ter  of  my  story  and  to  relate  how  I  was  summarily  tried,  and  falsely  convictec 
a  crime  which  I  never  committed.  My  story,  as  I  have  said,  may  sound  more 
a  romance  of  the  middle  ages  than  the  wretched  reality  of  the  present ;  n- 
like  a  Westphalian  tale  of  the  Fehmgericht  than  a  trial  by  jury  in  Virginia. 

Averring  that  by  no  act  of  mine  has  the  commonwealth  ever  lost  a  si 
dollar  belonging  to  her,  I  will  show  : 

Firstly :  That  I  never  committed  the  crime  for  which  I  have  been  made  to  su 
In  proof  of  which  I  will  demonstrate  and  prove  that  up  to  a  certain  notable  lj 
and  minute  I  never  had  any  motive  to  do  it,  and  that  after  that  hour  and  min 
I  never  had  either  motive  or  opportunity. 

Secondly :  That  I  was  summarily  arraigned,  denied  such  adequate  opportu 
to  prepare  my  defence  as  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  was  necessary, 
forced  to  trial  thus  unprepared,  whilst  ailing  in  body,  enfeebled  in  mind,  and  brc 
in  spirit. 

Thirdly :  That  the  only  question  contested  at  my  trial  by  my  counsel 
not  whether  I  was  guilty  of  the  fact  charged  in  the  indictment  against  me, 
whether  the  fact  charged  in  the  said  indictment  was  an  offence  against  the 
not  whether  I  had  made  an  erasure  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund 
intent  to  defraud  the  commonwealth,  but  whether  the  said  warrant  book  w 
“  public  record  ”  or  not.  Although  there  was  evidence  which  could  have  t 
adduced  at  my  trial  to  prove  that  I  never  committed  the  act  charged  in  the, 
indictment,  and  it  did  not  make  any  difference  so  far  as  I  was,  in  fact,  conce: 
whether  the  warrant  book  in  question  was  a  “  public  record  ”  or  not. 

Fourthly:  That  the  verdict  of  the  jury  against  me  was  based  upon  the 
chievous  vagaries  of  a  madman,  whose  insanity  has  been  adjudged  by  a 
according  to  law.  There  has  never  been  any  evidence  to  connect  me  with 


ict  charged  in  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried  except  the  testimony  of  this 
isane  witness,  and  I  shall  herein  prove  that  his  testimony  was  false. 

Fifthly  :  That  even  if  I  had  been  guilty  of  the  crime  charged  in  the  indict- 
ient  on  which  I  was  tried,  the  punishment  which  I  was  made  to  suffer  was 
normously  in  excess  of  the  maximum  penalty  fixed  by  law  for  the  said  offence. 

Sixthly :  That  the  punishment  imposed  upon  me  was  not  only  enormously 
i  excess  of  that  to  which,  if  I  had  been  guilty,  I  would  have  been  liable  under 
le  law,  but  that  in  a  material  particular  its  injustice  was  aggravated  by  inflicting 
upon  me  in  a  manner  at  variance  with  even  the  order  of  the  court  itself  which 
rndered  the  judgment  and  pronounced  the  verdict. 

To  show  that  all  these  things  are  true,  I  now  submit  to  the  fair-minded  public 
11  the  real  facts. 

They  are  as  follows:  About  3  o’clock  p.  m.  on  Thursday,  February 
th,  Hon.  Wm.  F.  Taylor,  auditor  of  public  accounts,  came  to  me,  at  my  desk 
1  the  capitol,  (in  that  portion  of  the  second  auditor’s  office  used  by  the  board 
f  public  works),  and  informed  me  that  the  governor  “  and  the  board,”  (he  said), 
ished  to  see  me  in  his  office.  I  went  immediately  and  found  there  assembled 
en.  Jas.  L,  Kemper,  then  governor,  Col.  Jos.  Mayo,  jr.,  then  treasurer,  Gen. 
sa  Rogers,  second  auditor,  and  Hon.  Wm.  F.  Taylor,  auditor  of  public  accounts, 
he  latter  entering  the  room  with  me).  Gov.  Kemper  informed  me  that  he  and 
e  other  gentlemen  around  him  had  been  consulting  together  about  a  matter 
:ry  deeply  concerning  my  character ;  that  it  had  been  proposed  to  make  an 
:amination  of  the  affairs  of  my  office  without  saying  anything  to  me  about  it, 
it,  on  reflection,  it  had  been  considered  due  to  me  that  I  should  be  told  about  it ; 
•d  that  they  had  therefore  sent  for  me  for  that  purpose.  He  then  went  on  to 
;  v  that  “  rumors  and  reports  ”  had  reached  his  ears  to  the  effect  that  I  was  an 
Ubitue  of  faro-banks ;  that  I  was  addicted  to  drunkenness ;  that  it  was  said  that 
|  bad  been  seen  in  a  gambling-house  with  a  state  bond  in  my  possession  ;  that  a 
' rtain  gambler  “  of  the  name  of  Wortham  or  Worsham,  or  some  such  name  ” 
1  d  been  seen  with  a  check  drawn  in  my  favor  by  Mr.  Branch,  a  banker,  and 
1  it  it  was  suspected  that  I  had  hypothecated  state  bonds  with  him  to  obtain  an 
1  ccommodation,”  as  there  was  a  large  number  of  state  bonds  in  the  sinking 
fid  over  which  I  had  a  partial  control.  In  conclusion,  the  governor  said,  with  a 
mendous  air  of  authority,  that  he  had  determined  that  there  should  be  at  once 
horough  INVESTIGATION. 

In  the  history  of  the  “  Rise  and  Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire  ”  Gibbon 
ates  that  the  reign  of  one  of  the  most  corrupt  as  well  as  tyrannical  of  the 
pman  rulers  was  rendered  ineffably  odious  by  the  employment  of  delators — 
pies  and  informers ’’—who  procured  favor  for  themselves  in  the  Caesar's  con- 
c  tension  by  sycophantic  slanders  against  the  subordinate  officers  of  the  gov- 
hment.  With  the  disposition  of  Constantius,  the  governor,  it  seems,  had  bent 
prurient  ear  to  the  tale-bearer  against  me,  and  has  since  shielded  him  in  his 
ophancy ,  by  concealing  his  name,  so  that  he  could  not  be  put  upon  the  witness- 
s  ad  and  cross-examined  in  my  presence. 

,  In  reply,  I  told  the  governor,  in  effect,  that  these  “  rumors  and  reports  ”  were 
false  and  altogether  unjust ;  that  it  was  true  that  I  had  occasionally  visited 
hi-banks  [as  other  officers  and  employees  about  the  capitol  did]  but  I  hid  never 
b  n  an  habitue  of  such  places ;  that  I  did  sometimes  drink,  but  had  never  been 
“  qualified  for  business  by  it  during  office  hours  ;  but  as  to  these  things,  I  had 
sGe  days  before  come  to  the  resolution  never  to  enter  a  gambling  house  again 
0  :ake  another  drink  of  intoxicating  liquors  while  I  remained  in  the  public  service, 
it  with  the  understanding  that  that  resolution  would  be  kept,  I  hoped  the  board 
wild  continue  me  as  their  secretary;  [I  felt  that  I  had  been  at  fault  in  the  matter 


of  these  “  gentlemanly  dissipations  ”  and  I  believe  1  used  the  word  ‘  clemenc) 
in  asking  that  the  board  would  condone  that  fault,  on  my  promise  of  its  nc 
repetition.]  As  to  my  having  used  any  bonds  improperly,  I  told  the  governor 
was  utterly  false  ;  and  asked  that  he  would  send  for  Mr.  Branch  and  let  him  t 
what  were  the  transactions  he  had  had  with  me  ;  but  that  I  had  no  earthly  c 
jection  to  anv  scrutiny  he  (the  governor)  might  make  and  he  could  go  on  w 
his  investigation.  Without  noticing  my  suggestion  about  sending  for  Mr.  Bran 
and  taking  his  testimony  Gov.  Kemper  imperiously  ordered  me  to  “  bring  t 
books  and  papers”  saying  that  he  meant  to  have  an  immediate  investigatic 

I  thereupon  went  to  the  treasury  safe  and  got  out  the  bonds  belonging  to  t 
sinking  fund,  (treasurer  Mayo  accompanying  me  and  opening  the  safe  for  n 
and  brought  them.  I  also  brought  a  little  tin-box  belonging  to  the  sinking  fur 
containing  all  the  papers,  memoranda  and  vouchers  which  1  had  kept.  On  pi 
ducing  these  the  governor  enquired  for  the  minute-book  of  the  commissioners 
the  sinking  fund,  and,  on  being  informed  that  none  had  been  kept,  he  express 
his  dissatisfaction  with  that  fact  to  the  three  commissioners,  Taylor,  Rogers  a 
Mayo,  and  they,  or  some  of  them,  began  to  explain.  Then  at  the  suggestion 
one  of  them,  I  went  to  the  second  auditor’s  office,  and  brought  the  “  warn 
book  of  the  sinking  fund,”  which  had  been  kept  in  that  office.  I  also  brou< 
the  printed  volumes  containing  all  the  annual  reports  of  the  operations  of  1 
sinking  fund  which  had  been  made  up  to  that  date. 

These  “  books  and  papers  ”  were  all  then  taken  in  hand  by  the  two  auditc 
Taylor  and  Rogers,  and  treasurer  Mayo,  and  they  proceeded,  under  the  direct 
of  Gov.  Kemper,  to  make  the  investigation.  By  this  time  I  had'  begun  to  foi 
an  opinion  touching  the  proceedings  which  the  governor  had  instituted,  and 
purposes  therein,  which  subsequent  events  have  fully  confirmed.  It  had  been  t 
me  a  few  weeks  before  by  a  friend  that  efforts  were  on  foot  for  my  removal  fr 
office  as  secretary  of  the  board  of  public  works  in  order  to  put  Mr  De\\  ittbt 
into  the  office ;  and  now  I  came  to  the  belief  that  these  proceedings  of  G 
Kemper  were  instituted  with  that  object  in  view.  Certainly,  it  cannot  be  den 
that  if  he  wanted  any  information  as  to  the  affairs  of  my  office ;  if,  in  fact, 
only  desired  to  ascertain  fads  with  no  ulterior  design  to  entangle  me  in  order 
find  a  pretext  or  occasion  for  my  removal  from  office — surely  ordinary  fain, 
would  have  required  that  he  should  first  have  demanded  of  me  AN  exhibit  of 
affairs  of  my  office,  and  if  I  failed  to  make  a  clear,  proper,  and  satisfactory  exhii 
that  then  would  be  time  enough  for  him  to  take  the  books  and  papers  out  of 
hands  and  institute  a  rigid  investigation.  Suppose  the  governor  should,  to-d 
hear  any  “  rumors  and  reports”  derogatory  to  the  treasurer  of  the  commonwes 
and  should  go  to  his  office,  demand  his  “  books  and  papers  ”  and  institute  a  rij 
investigation  into  the  affairs  of  that  office  without  allowing  the  treasurer  hum 
any  opportunity  to  examine  his  office  beforehand  ;  and  suppose  the  investigatj 
should  disclose  a  deficit  in  the  number  of  bonds  deposited  there,  the  treasq 
himself  being  utterly  ignorant  of  such  cle licit,  would  it  be  fair  or  just  to  hold  lj 
criminally  responsible  for  that  deficit,  when  in  fact  he  was  ignorant  of  it  and  1| 
perhaps  been  robbed  of  the  missing  bonds  ?  Well,  such  was,  virtually,  the  coil 
of  governor  Kemper  in  my  case. 

But,  as  I  had  no  suspicion  that  there  was  anything  wrong  in  the  affairs  ofj 
sinking  fund,  I  did  not  demur  to  the  investigation,  but  allowed  it  to  proceed! 
fully  believed  that  the  result  would  justify  my  proud  confidence  and  that  I  shqi 
be  fully  vindicated,  “  even  my  enemies  being  judges,”  against  the  slander/ 
suspicions  which  it  seemed  had  been  engendered  in  Gov.  Kemper’s  mind  by/ 
“  rumors  and  reports  ”  to  which  I  now  believe  he  had  lent  a  willing  ear. 

The  two  auditors,  Taylor  and  Rogers,  undertook  to  ascertain  the  amount 


Donds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund,  while  the  treasurer,  Mayo, 
,vas  to  count  the  bonds  produced,  so  as  to  see  if  the  two  amounts  agreed.  For 
bis  purpose  the  two  auditors  occupied  a  table  in  the  western  end  of  the  auditor’s 
office,  and  the  treasurer  spread  out  the  bonds  on  a  sofa  behind  them.  Gov. 
Kemper  sat  at  a  table  n;ar  the  other  end  of  the  office  and  distant  from  the  two 
luditors  probably  fifteen  feet  or  more.  I  stood  for  the  most  part  near  the  gov- 
;rnor  and  in  his  rear.  Once  I  ventured  to  suggest  to  the  two  auditors  that  their 
vork  might  be  facilitated  by  consulting  the  annual  reports  of  the  sinking  fund, 
vhich  I  had  prepared  and  which  showed  the  amount  of  bonds  purchased  and  on 
land  up  to  the  close  of  the  preceding  fiscal  year.  But  one  of  them  (auditor 
logers,  I  believe)  replied  that  they  “preferred  to  go  by  the  warrant-book,”  and  after 
hat  I  held  my  peace  and  went  to  the  other  end  of  the  room  near  the  window 
/here  I  stood  looking  out  of  the  window;  leaving  them  to  conduct  the  investiga- 
;on  in  their  own  way. 

At  this  point,  Mr.  Wise,  I  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  a  circumstance  of 
anfe  importance.  In  certifying  the  case  to  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  the 
ite  judge  Guigon  laid  stress  on  the  assertion,  that  while  the  two  auditors  were 
xamining  the  “  warrant  book  ”  in  order  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  the  bonds 
lat  ought  to  be  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund,  as  I  have  just  related,  one  of  them 
ailed  out  the  amount  “  $8,100  ”  which  ought  to  have  been  $18,100  (the  entry  al- 
ged  to  be  forged),  and  I  did  not  correct  him.  You  will  see  from  my  statement 
f  the  circumstances  that  I  could  not  have  known  anything  about  whether  he  was 
i  tiling  it  out  incorrectly  or  not.  1  was  distant  some  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from 
e  two  auditors,  they  were  speaking  to  each  other  in  the  subdued  tones,  which, 

!  en  employed  as  they  were,  would  naturally  speak  in,  and  it  was  impossible  for 

•  e  to  have  heard  and  understood  in  order  to  correct  them. 

Treasurer  Mayo  completed  his  count  of  the  bonds  on  hand,  some  time  before 
i  e  two  auditors  got  through  the  work  of  computing  the  amount  that  ought  to 
:  :  on  hand.  He  made  memoranda  of  the  various  lots  of  bonds  as  he  counted 
'em,  and  the  aggregate  as  he  made  it,  I  distinctly  remember,  (for  he  showed  me 
|e  slip  of  paper  containing  it,)  was  not  quite  $379,000,  though  the  said  amount, 
p  subsequently  ascertained,  is  now  stated  at  $360,772,72 — over  $18,000  less  than 
masurer  Mayo  made  it  when  he  counted  them.  When  he  had  finished  counting 
'•Is  bonds,  and  ascertained  the  amount,  treasurer  Mayo  asked  whether  it  would 
I  necessary  to  examine  each  bond  to  see  if  the  coupons  on  it  were  all  right ;  and 
1  was  answered  in  the  affirmative.  And  he  then  proceeded  to  examine  each 
1  nd  accordingly,  the  two  auditors  meanwhile  continuing  their  work  as  before. 

•  I  Shortly  alter  this  Gov.  Kemper  got  up  to  leave,  saying  that  he  had  to  go  to 
net  a  member,  or  members,  of  his  family  at  the  railroad  depot  that  evening, 
ft  directed  that  the  investigation  should  be  continued  to  its  conclusion  without 
c  lay ;  and  it  was  so  continued  after  his  departure,  by  the  two  auditors  and  treas- 

41  ir  Mayo.  Not  long  after  Gov.  Kemper  had  left,  the  two  auditors  completed 
t :  work  of  computing  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand,  but  if 
tfy  announced  the  amount,  I  did  not  hear  it,  or  do  not  remember  it.  They 
t  n  went  to  work  to  assist  treasurer  Mayo  in  examining  the  bonds,  to  see  if  the 
cipons  were  all  right.  After  some  time  had  been  thus  spent,  it  began  to  grow 
hi  in  the  evening,  and  auditor  Taylor  proposed  to  adjourn  the  investigation  till 
t  following  evening.  This  was  assented  to  by  the  other  two  gentlemen,  and  there- 
u  in  auditor  Rogers  took  charge  of  the  warrant  book,  and  the  statement,  which 
h  and  auditor  Taylor  had  compiled,  together  with  all  the  other  papers  and  mem- 
0  nda,  while  auditor  Taylor  and  treasurer  Mayo  took  the  bonds,  I  assisting  them, 
a  l  all  together  proceeded  to  the  treasury  office  and  put  everything  pertaining 
t<  he  investigation,  all  together,  in  the  treasury  safe.  Treasurer  Mayo  locked 


30 

the  safe  and  the  door  of  the  treasurer’s  private  office  in  which  the  safe  was,  ai 
we  all  came  out  and  left  the  capitol  together.  Near  the  Washington  monume 
we  separated,  and  I  went  to  my  boarding-house  near  by. 

I  had  a  social  engagement  for  that  evening,  and  after  tea,  I  changed  my  toil 
and  went  and  filled  it.  My  time  was  thus  occupied  until  about  half  past  t 
o’clock  p.  M.,  and  then  I  returned  to  my  desk  at  the  capitol,  and  worked  an  hour 
more  on  a  statement  1  had  been  requested  to  prepare  for  the  use  of  the  hou 
committee  on  roads  and  internal  navigation,  showing  the  amount  and  character 
the  state’s  interest  in  her  various  works  ot  internal  improvement,  at  the  close 
the  war,  what  disposition  had  been  made  of  the  same,  etc.,  etc.  I  left  this  stat 
ment  nearly  completed,  and  it  was  taken  by  my  successor  in  office,  Mr.  DeWi 
and  delivered  to  the  committee  named,  and  printed  by  order  of  the  house  of  de! 
gates.  One  of  the  printed  copies  can,  no  doubt,  be  now  obtained  if  desired.  ( 
examination  of  it  will  show  that  it  required  a  great  deal  of  labor  and  time  to  pr 
pare  it.  I  had  to  consult  the  statute-books  in  each  case  to  ascertain  the  date 
the  act  of  incorporation,  then  to  consult  the  account-books  of  the  board  of  pu 
lie  works,  as  kept  in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  to  ascertain  the  amount  ot  t 
payments  made  by  the  state  to  the  capital  stock,  and  to  make  many  similar  reft 
ences,  tor  the  complete  information  which  this  tabulated  statement  contains, 
had  been  working  on  it  every  day,  and  three  or  four  nights,  prior  to  the  date 
the  investigation  ordered  by  Gov.  Kemper  as  above  related.  I  worked  at  nig 
as  well  as  day  upon  it,  because  Mr.  Armstrong,  of  the  committee,  came  to  r 
and  requested  me  to  finish  it  as  soon  as  possible  because  the  committee  v> 
needing  it  in  the  consideration  of  certain  bills  then  before  it.  The  watchm; 
Beach,  was  in  the  office  near  me  all  the  time  I  was  there  that  night,  and  no  c 
else  was  present.  All  this  time  I  had  no  apprehension  that  there  u 
anything  wrong  about  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund  and  felt  no  uneasim 
on  the  subject.  I  did  not  even  mention  the  matter  to  any  person,  except  one 
a  lady — and  to  her  I  only  mentioned  it  as  a  matter  which  might  afford  my  enem 
an  occasion  to  attempt  my  removal  from  office  as  secretary  of  the  board  of  put 
works. 

Next  morning  I  was  at  my  desk  in  the  capitol  as  usual  and  resumed  wc 
upon  the  statement  I  was  preparing  for  the  house  committee  on  roads  and  inter 
navigation,  and  continued  this  work  till  the  close  of  office  hours.  That  afternc 
(Friday  February  6th)  the  weather  was  very  inclement,  there  being  a  heavy  sn( 
storm.  The  investigation  had  been  adjourned  to  that  time,  but  Gov.  Kern 
did  not  appear.  Soon  after  3  o’clock,  however,  the  two  auditors,  Taylor  a 
Rogers,  and  the  treasurer,  Mayo,  and  myself  came  together  in  the  office  of 
auditor  of  public  accounts  where  the  investigation  had  been  commem 
the  previous  afternoon.  It  being  evident  that  the  dinner-hour  would 
passed  before  the  investigation  could  be  concluded,  and  as  we  had  all  gc 
without  our  dinners  the  previous  day,  treasurer  Mayo  proposed  to  defer  the  wi 
until  we  could  get  our  dinners.  This  was  agreed  to  and  treasurer  Mayo  invi 
me  to  go  with  him  to  Zetelle’s  to  dine,  and  i  accepted  the  invitation.  The  ot 
gentlemen  did  not  go  with  us,  but  I  suppose  they  got  their  dinners  elsewh' 
While  treasurer  Mayo  and  I  were  thus  together  we  conversed  most  of  the  t 
as  two  friends  would  under  such  circumstances,  pleasantly  and  sociably  at 
things  of  no  particular  importance  ;  but  treasurer  Mayo  more  than  once  ende 
ored  to  turn  the  conversation  upon  the  subject  of  the  pending  investigation. 

I  avoided  it,  through  a  sense  of  delicacy.  My  idea  was  that  as  he  was  one  of 
investigators,  and  1  the  accused,  it  was  not  proper  for  me  to  converse  with  hiir 
the  subject  while  we  were  alone.  I  had  not  mentioned  the  subject  to  any 
since  the  investigation  was  ordered,  (except  to  one  lady  as  I  have  stated  abt 


nd  now  whenever  treasurer  Mayo  tried  to  introduce  it  I  studiously  avoided  it, 
s  far  as  I  could. 

After  we  got  through  with  dinner,  treasurer  Mayo  and  I  together  returned 
)  the  capitol  and  there  found  the  two  auditors,  Taylor  and  Rogers,  awaiting  us, 
)  resume  the  investigation.  But  for  greater  convenience  it  was  agreed  to  continue 
re  work  in  the  treasury  office  instead  of  the  office  of  the  auditor  of  public  ac- 
Dunts  where  it  had  been  commenced.  Gov.  Kemper  had  not  yet  appeared  and 
id  not  appear  at  all  that  evening.  The  two  auditors,  Taylor  and  Rogers,  the 
•easurer,  Mayo,  and  myself  went  into  the  treasury  office  and  they  took  out  from 
le  treasury  safe  the  bonds,  the  warrant-book  and  all  the  papers  pertaining  to  the 
ivestigation  which  they  had  put  in  there  the  preceding  evening.  Again,  as  on 
le  previous  evening,  I  was  not  invited  to  and  did  not  take  any  part  in  the  investi- 
ation,  except  that  I  lighted  the  gas,  when  it  began  to-  grow  dark,  and  rendered 
ich  other  like  services  as  politeness  prompted. 

The  computation  of  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand  had  been 
Dmpleted  by  the  two  auditors  the  evening  before,  as  I  have  stated,  though  up  to 
lat  time  I  had  not  seen  the  figures,  and  did  not  know  the  amount.  The  treas- 
rer,  Mayo,  had  also,  as  I  have  stated,  completed  his  counting  of  the  bonds  on 
and  the  evening  before,  the  amount  of  the  same  being,  according  to  his  count, 
>  I  have  stated,  not  quite  $379,000.  At  the  time  of  adjournment  the  evening 
efore,  the  work  of  examining  the  bonds  to  see  if  the  coupons  upon  them  were 
1  right  had  been  commenced,  and  it  now  remained,  as  I  supposed,  to  complete 
lis  part  of  this  investigation  next.  But  as  each  of  the  bonds  had  to  be  exam- 
ed  separately,  it  was  agreed  that,  as  examined,  they  should  be  put  up  in  pack- 
jes  and  sealed,  the  amount  of  bonds  in  each  package  being  labelled  on  the 
>ver  thereof.  In  doing  this  work,  auditor  Rogers  was  seated  at  a  small  table 
lar  the  middle  of  the  room  (the  treasury  front,  or  public,  office),  auditor  Taylor 
ood  at  a  desk  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  room,  and  treasurer  Mayo  some- 
nes  stood  at  a  desk  against  the  fire-place  and  sometimes  at  another  desk  in  the 
irth-west  corner  of  the  room.  Auditor  Rogers  and  treasurer  Mayo  examined 
e  coupons  on  the  bonds,  counted  the  bonds,  and  put  them  together  in  conve- 
ent  amounts,  and  passed  them  to  auditor  Taylor,  who  wrapped  them  up  in 
jickages,  sealed  them,  and  wrote  the  amount  on  the  cover  of  each.  Nothing 
is  requested  of  me  and  I  took  no  part  in  any  of  their  proceedings  ;  except,  as 
'have  said  I  lit  the  gas  for  auditor  Taylor,  and  sometimes,  held  the  burner  down 
S '  his  convenience  in  melting  the  wax  for  sealing  packages. 

During  the  time  that  this  work  was  being  done,  all  present  engaged  in  a  sort 
[  general  conversation  on  various  topics  of  no  particular  importance,  each  one 
Intributing  a  remark  or  so  from  time  to  time.  Feeling  entire  confidence  that 
<  erything  was  all  right  with  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  not  dreaming 
fit  the  bonds  were  deficient  to  the  extent  of  even  a  single  dollar,  I  felt  no  uneas- 
i  “ss  as  to  the  result  of  the  investigation,  and  joined  in  the  conversation  with  the 
( lers  from  time  to  time,  with  cheerful  spirits. 

The  work  of  putting  up  the  bonds  into  packages,  as  I  have  described,  was 
cnpleted  about  night  fall.  Each  package  being  sealed,  and  the  amount  labelled 
c  the  cover  thereof,  a  list  of  these  amounts  was  made  and  added  up.  This 
3  ^regate  was  then  compared  with  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand 
3  the  same  had  been  computed  by  the  two  auditors  the  preceding  evening.  It 
vs  found  that  there  was,  according  to  their  computation,  a  deficit  of  bonds  to 
t :  amount  of  nearly  $1,400  (face  value).  When  this  deficit  was  announced  to 
r  ,  I  was  as  much  astounded,  as  if  I  had  been  struck  by  a  thunder-bolt  from  a 
c  ir  sky,  and  so  expressed  myself,  in  those  very  words,  to  the  gentlemen  pres- 
g  .  I  was  inexpressibly  troubled  about  it,  for  such  a  result  of  the  investigation, 


was  as  inexplicable  to  me  as  it  was  unexpected.  In  the  torture  of  my  distress, 
asked  permission  to  re-open  the  packages,  and  recount  their  contents,  hoping  t 
find  some  mistake  in  the  count  of  the  bonds,  which  would  set  matters  right  c 
being  corrected.  The  two  auditors  appeared  to  sympathize  with  me  very  deepl 
in  my  distress,  though  treasurer  Mayo  seemed  stupified,  as  it  were,  and  said  notl 
ing.  Auditor  Rogers,  proposed  that  further  proceedings  be  postponed  until  th 
next  day,  and  then  all  the  packages  re-opened,  and  the  bonds  recounted.  H 
said  to  me  in  a  comforting  sort  of  manner  (I  remember  his  very  words) :  “  Wei 
Coleman,  we  will  sleep ‘over  the  matter  to-night,  and  may  be,  by  to-morrow,  w 
will  find  the  missing  bonds,  put  away  somewhere,  and  overlooked,  in  the  safe  c 
somewhere.”  “  In  the  meantime,”  said  he,  “  we  will  keep  everything  a  secret  1 
our  own  breasts,  say  nothing  to  anybody,  make  no  report  to  the  governor  ye 
awhile,  and  nothing  will  be  said  by  anybody  about  it,  and  we  will  get  the  matte 
all  straight.”  ‘‘Ah!  General,”  said  I,  in  reply,  “  there  will  be  no  sleep  for  me,  fc 
I  shall  pass  a  wretched  night  of  misery  and  anxiety.” 

The  packages  of  bonds  were  then  all  gathered  up  together  and  carried  int 
the  treasury  private  office  and  put  back  into  the  treasury  safe,  I  assisting  in  doin 
it.  Whilst  I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  safe  beside  treasurer  Mayo,  who  wa 
arranging  some  of  the  packages  of  bonds  in  the  safe,  which  I  had  just  brougf 
to  him,  auditor  Rogers  came  up,  with  the  warrant  book,  into  which  he  had  pi 
all  the  papers  and  memoranda  made  during,  and  pertaining  to,  the  investigatioi 
This  book,  with  the  papers  and  memoranda  in  it,  auditor  Rogers  put  on  a  she 
in  the  treasury  safe,  just  as  he  had  done  when  the  investigation  was  adjourned  th 
evening  before.  After  thus  putting  the  warrant  book  and  the  papers  in  it  int 
the  safe,  auditor  Rogers  passed  on  to  the  door  leading  to  the  second  auditor' 
office,  near  which  auditor  Taylor  was  then  standing,  and  both  of  these  gentleme 
lingered  there,  just  outside  the  door,  waiting  for  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself  t 
join  them,  treasurer  Mayo  being  detained  for  several  moments  in  arranging  th 
packages  ol  bonds  in  the  safe,  so  that  the  door  would  close  properly.  Just  a 
treasurer  Mayo  had  got  these  packages  arranged,  and  was  about  to  close  thl 
door,  the  thought  suddenly  crossed  my  mind,  like  an  electric  flash,  as  it  were 
that  perhaps,  the  two  auditors  in  computing  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  t| 
be  on  hand  had  made  some  mistake  in  their  calculations,  the  correction  of  whic 
would  set  matters  right.  Acting  upon  this  thought,  impulsively,  I  reached  fort] 
my  hand  and  took  down  the  warrant  book  with  all  the  papers  in  it,  which  audita 
Rogers  had  just  put  into  the  safe,  and  holding  it  up  to  treasurer  Mayo,  I  told  hiij 
I  wanted  to  go  over  these  calculations  for  myself  that  night.  He  assented,  anl 
I  took  the  warrant  book  with  all  the  papers  in  it,  and  put  it  on  top  of  the  treasur 
er  s  desk  in  the  same  private  office  of  the  treasurer,  outside  of  the  safe,  and  le 
it  there  for  the  purpose  of  going  over  the  calculations  for  myself  that  night,  as  I 
had  told  treasurer  Mayo  I  wanted  to  do.  Treasurer  Mayo  then  turned  down  th 
gas  in  this  private  office  of  the  treasurer,  and  he  and  1  came  out  by  the  doc 
leading  to  the  second  auditor’s  office  and  joined  the  two  auditors  who  were  war 
ing  for  us  near  that  door.  Treasurer  Mayo  locked  the  door  out  of  which  w 
passed,  but  left  the  other  door  to  this  private  office  unlocked  and  the  gas  burnin 
in  the  room,  though  turned  down  low,  so  that  I  could  have  access  to  the  root 
and  to  the  warrant  book  and  papers  that  night  in  order  to  go  over  the  calculator 
for  myselt  as  I  had  told  him  I  wanted  to  do.  On  joining  the  two  auditors,  w 
all  came  out  ol  the  capitol  together.  It  was  by  this  time  quite  dark  ;  the  weathi 
was  very  bad  ;  nothing  further  was  said  in  relation  to  the  investigation  ;  near  th 
monument  I  parted  from  the  other  gentlemen,  and  went  directly  to  my  boardind 
house. 

Disturbed  in  mind  beyond  expression  about  the  deficit  which  the  investigc 


33 


an  had  so  unexpectedly  disclosed,  and  painfully  anxious  to  discover  how  it 
>uld  have  occurred,  and  to  set  it  right,  I  reached  my  room  in  a  state  of  indescrib- 
)le  distress  and  mental  anguish.  On  reaching  my  room,  I  gave  myself  up  to 
ie  most  intense  reflection,  mentally  overhauling  as  many  of  the  transactions  of 
^e  sinking  fund  as  I  could,  hoping,  by  possibility  to  recall  some  transaction  in 
hich  some  error  might  have  occurred,  which  would  account  for  the  deficit  in  the 
)nds.  In  the  midst  of  these  reflections  there  came  back  to  my  memory  an  oc- 
irrence  which  made  my  heart  bound  with  delight.  This  was  as  follows :  A 
lort  time  prior  to  my  illness  in  February,  1873,  (which  I  have  mentioned  herein 
dore,)  I  had  handed  to  Mr.  Poiteaux,  the  transfer  clerk  in  the  second  auditor’s 
nee,  a  little  over  $1,200  (face  value)  in  fractional  certificates  of  various  amounts 
Inch  had  been  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund  at  sundry  times,  together  with  a 
emorandum  of  the  several  numbers  and  amounts  of  the  same,  requesting  him 
consolidate  them,  and  is^ue  new  bonds  in  lieu  of  them.  Shortly  afterwards 
r.  Poiteaux  had  delivered  to  me  two  $100  “  peeler  ”  bonds  on  account  of  this  lot  of 
ictional  certificates,  leaving  the  transaction  uncompleted,  temporarily,  because  (I 
ink  it  was)  the  supply  of  $1,000  “  peeler  ”  bonds  on  hand  was  exhausted,  and  he 
d  to  wait  for  a  new  supply  to  be  printed.  After  my  recovery  and  return  to  the 
pitol,  I  reminded  Mr.  Poiteaux  of  this  incomplete  transaction,  but  he  declared 
at  he  had  afterwards  made  out  the  $1,000  “  peeler  ”  bond,  and  delivered  it  to 
and  had  my  receipt  for  it.  The  receipt  had  doubtless  been  signed  when  I 
-eived  the  two  $100  “  peeler  ”  bonds,  with  the  understanding  that  the  $1,000 
e  would  be  handed  to  me  in  a  day  or  so.  This,  indeed,  was  rather  a  loose  way 
oing  business,  but  by  no  means  unusual  among  the  officers  and  clerks  in  the 
:>lt<?  ‘  Very  soon  afterwards,  I  was  taken  ill,  and  when  I  applied  for  the  $1,000 
■eeler  bond  alter  my  recovery,  Mr.  Poiteaux  claimed  that  he  had  delivered  it 
me.  In  my  own  mind,  I  was  fully  satisfied  that  he  was  mistaken,  but  as  he 
my  receipt,  I  could  do  nothing  but  wait  in  the  hope  that  circumstances  would 
n  up  after  a  while  to  convince  him  of  his  error,  and  I  had  no  doubt  that  he 
J  correct  it  as  soon  as  convinced  of  it.  So  I  determined  to  wait  the  devel- 
nent  °  circumstances.  This  matter  had  never  been  forgotten  by  me,  but  how 
| a?  t  at  it  did  not  come  back  promptly  to  my  memory  as  the  explanation,  at 
I  Z11  Skater  part,  of  the  deficit  in  the  bonds,  I  cannot  understand  myself,  ex- 
.  y  ie  eience  to  the  then  condition  of  my  mind — stunned  by  the  shock  and 
E  mzed  by  the  situation. 

Now,  however,  this  transaction  came  back  to  my  recollection  with  the 
inc  ness  of  sunlight.  And  now,  I  thought  I  could  account  for  the  deficit  of 
1  S(-’  *  eaf  *  *or  ”early  ,°f  and  I  believed  that  the  remainder  of  the  deficit, 

,,  u  $400,)  was  due  to  a  miscount  of  the  bonds  on  hand.  Accordingly,  I  settled 
ci  "hTi  •  at  ^  wou^  next  morning  make  a  statement  of  this  transaction, 
i,  u  r>\  oitea^ ux  to  make  a  thorough  search  in  the  second  auditor’s  safe  for 
I  .,00°  peeler  bond.  With  this  mental  relief,  I  came  down  stairs  from  my 
in  my  oarding-house,  and  went  to  supper  with  a  mind  comparatively  at 

After  supper  I  returned  to  my  room,  and  remained  probably  half  an  hour  or 
,  1  o  ung  and  reading ;  then  came  down,  and  returned  to  the  capitol  partly  for 
s'n^056  °-  resummg  my  work  on  the  tabulated  statement  of  the  state’s  inte- 
p,  e  various  woiks  of  internal  improvement,  which,  as  heretofore  explained, 
IW^g  or  t  ie  bouse  committee  on  roads  and  internal  navigation,  and 
If  [  le  PurP°S( e  of  examining  the  computation  of  the  account  of  bonds 
§!.  4?  1  0  e  orihand  m  the  sinking  fund,  as  the  same  had  been  made*by  au- 
■ii’f  .  J  or  an  ,  P-Ogers  ;  to  do  which,  as  I  have  stated,  I  had,  with  the  permis- 
asurer  Mayo,  that  evening  taken  the  warrant  book,  with  the  papers  and 


34 


memoranda  in  it,  out  of  the  treasury  safe,  and  placed  the  same  on  top  of  th 
treasurer’s  desk.  On  entering  the  basement  of  the  capitol,  I  found  the  watchmai 
Beach,  on  duty  as  usual,  and  requested  him  to  light  the  gas  at  my  desk.  H 
did  so,  but  it  burned  but  dimly,  because,  as  I  supposed,  of  the  fact  that  the  ha 
of  the  house  of  delegates  was  brilliantly  lighted,  and  the  quantity  of  gas  up  ther 
burning,  allowed  but  little  for  the  burners  below.  Finding  that  the  light  I  coul 
then  get  at  my  desk  was  insufficient  to  work  by,  I  requested  the  watchman  t 
put  it  out  entirely.  I  mentioned  that,  in  my  opinion,  it  burned  so  dimly,  becaus 
of  the  bright  lights  burning  above-stairs  ;  and,  telling  him  that  I  would  return,  t 
continue  the  work  I  was  engaged  upon,  at  a  later  hour,  when  the  gas  up-staii 
would  be  no  longer  needed,  ai  d  I  could  get  a  better  light  t<  work  by,  1  left  hin 
Leaving  the  watchman  in  the  second  auditor's  office,  1  went  up-stairs  to  tb 
hall  of  the  house  of  delegates,  where  I  found  a  committee  of  the  legislature  i 
session.  I  remained  and  listened  to  their  proceedings  for  some  time,  until  I  b< 
came  tired  of  it,  and  then  walked  out  and  waited  in  the  rotunda  for  a  while,  hoj 
ing  that  the  committee  would  soon  rise.  But  they  continued  in  session  so  Ion* 
and  seemed  likely  to  continue  so  much  longer,  that  I  got  tired  of  waiting  in  tf 
rotunda,  and  concluded,  although  the  weather  was  bad,  to  walk  up  to  the  Riel 
mond  club-house,  and  spend  an  hour  or  so,  as  I  was  in  the  habit  of  doing  near, 
every  night.  I  remained  at  the  club-house  an  hour  or  so  in  company  with 
number  of  associates,  whom  I  generally  met  there,  and  then  returned  to  the  cap 
tol.  It  was  now  approaching  twelve  o’clock.  I  went  into  the  second  auditor 
office  with  the  watchman,  Beach,  whom  I  found  on  duty  as  before,  and  wl 
opened  the  western  door  of  the  basement,  on  my  knocking  at  it,  and  let  me  i 
He  lit  the  gas  for  me,  near  my  desk,  which,  now  that  the  lights  up-stairs  ffi 
been  extinguished,  burned  brightly  enough.  There  is  a  chimney-wall  betwe< 
the  second  auditor’s  office  proper,  and  that  portion  of  the  same  apartment  us<> 
by  the  board  of  public  works,  in  which  my  desk  stood.  Before  going  to  world 
went  around  to  the  other  side  of  this  wall  where  the  fire-place  is  situated,  ar: 
sat  by  the  fire  with  the  watchman  for  some  minutes,  warming  myself,  because  tl 
weather  was  cold.  Then  I  went  back  to  my  desk,  and  took  out  the  papers  d 
which  I  wras  making  out  the  tabulated  statement  of  the  state’s  interest  in  the  vj 
rious  internal  improvement  companies,  and  after  examining  this  work  a  while! 
found  it  so  nearly  finished  that  I  could  complete  it  in  a  few  hours,  I  though 
There  were,  however,  several  items  of  subscriptions  to  some  of  the  companiJ 
the  amounts  of  which  I  had  taken  from  an  old  report  of  the  board  of  pubn 
works,  and  these  needed  to  be  verified  by  comparison  with  the  original  entries  i 
the  account  books  of  the  board  of  public  works.  These  account  books  were  i 
the  second  auditor’s  office,  lying  under  a  table  where  they  had  been  put  to  gt 
them  out  of  the  way  of  current  business.  I  concluded  to  verify  these  items,  aiil 
then  put  the  work  away  till  next  day.  I  went  around  to  the  other  side  of  t' 
chimney- wall,  where  the  watchman,  Beach,  was,  got  the  account  books  I  needc 
brought  them  to  my  desk,  and  verified  the  items  by  comparison  with  the  origii 
entries.  This  took  me  only  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  I  then  carried  t 
account-books  back,  and  put  them  where  I  got  them  from,  came  back  to  fi 
desk,  and  put  away  the  papers  on  which  I  was  making  out  the  tabulated  star 
ment  mentioned,  intending  to  finish  the  work  next  day 

During  all  this  time  my  mind  was  comparatively  at  ease  on  the  subject 
the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  because  I  believed  1  had  discovered  the  cause 
the  small  deficit  of  bonds,  which  the  investigation  had  disclosed  that  (FrkH 
evening,  and  would  be  able  to  explain  the  same  next  morning.  But  I  still  adhed 
to  the  purpose  of  making  an  examination  for  myself  of  the  computation  made  '• 
the  two  auditors  of  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand  ;  to  do  whic,. 


is  I  have  stated,  I  had,  with  treasurer  Mayo’s  permission,  taken  out  of  the  treas- 
iry  sate  that  evening,  the  warrant  book  and  accompanying  papers,  and  put  them 
)n  top  of  the  treasurer’s  desk  in  his  office.  Accordingly,  after  putting  away  the 
vork  1  had  been  doing  on  the  tabulated  statement  of  the  state’s  interest  in  the 
various  internal  improvement  companies,  I  got  up  from  my  desk,  and  went  on 
nto  the  treasury  office  by  way  of  the  door  between  that  office  and  the  treasury 
ittice.  1  am  not  entirely  certain  as  to  the  position  of  the  watchman,  Beach,  at 
Ins  time,  for,  not  considering  it  of  any  importance,  I  did  not  notice  particularly, 
,s  to  his  whereabouts;  but  I  am  entirely  certain  that  he  was  still  in  the  second’ 
mentor  s  office,  and  must  have  been  cognizant  of  my  movements. 

I  went  on  into  the  treasury  front,  or  public,  office,  and  from  that,  into  the 
reasurer  s  private  office,  by  way  of  the  door  connecting  the  two.  This  door  as 
ou  know,  sir  faces  due  east,  the  other  leading  towards  the  second  auditor’s  office 
ices  due  south.  This  door  had  been  left  unlocked,  by  treasurer  Mayo,  for  me 
lat  evening,  and  I  opened  it,  and  went  in.  The  gas  was  burning,  but  turned 
own  low  ;  I  raised  it,  and  having  thus  lighted  the  room,  at  once  took  down  from 
n  top  of  the  treasurer’s  desk  the  warrant  book,  together  with  the  statement  of 
0"  ou&ht  to  be  on  hand  as  computed  by  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers 

id  all  the  other  papers  and  memoranda  made  by  them  during,  and  pertaining  to 
le  investigation  ;  all  of  which  were  lying  loose  in  the  covers  of  the  said  warrant 
lok.  Seating  myself  at  the  treasurer’s  desk,  I  proceeded  to  make  the  examin- 

I  had  no  doubt  that  the  entries  in  the  warrant  book  were  all  correct  up  to 
'e.dole  f”  the  fisucal  year  ending  September  30th,  1872,  for  I  had  examined  them 
0  to  that  date  when  I  made  out  the  first  report  of  the  operations  of  the  com¬ 
missioners  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  and  although  there  had  been  a  number  of  er- 
'  neous  entries,  yet  erasures  had  been  made  where  these  errors  occurred,’ and 
'  r^ec^10ns  mserted  ;  so  that  the  warrant  book  might  be  regarded  as  “  correct  ” 
not  hat  date  for  all  practical  purposes — at  least,  correct  information  could  be 

<  tamed  from  it  by  any  one  who  could  understand  the  entries  with  their  altera- 
t  ns  and  corrections. 

1  t;'St!teTni  comPiled  by  the  two  auditors  from  this  warrant 

ok  that  I  rather  hoped  to  find  errors,  supposing  it  probable  that  these  gentlemen 
git  have  mistaken  the  amounts  of  some  of  the  entries  when  taking  them  down 
Snc‘5  Wlth  the  first  entry  in  the  book,  I  proceeded  with  my  examination; 
efully  comparing  each  entry  in  the  warrant  book,  with  the  same  as  put  down 
1.  pencil,  on  the  statement  compiled  by  auditors  Taylor  and  Roo-ers 

On  the  opening  page  of  the  warrant  book  there  had  been  an  entry  (made  by 
Mornson  the  clerk  who  kept  the  book)  of  a  transaction  made  by  John  C 

a  hontv  Sof\irhT,adrdf  ’  m6n  CaS,hie5,  °*  the  inters’  National  Bank,  under 
H  •  Y  f  ^  board  of  public  works,  (before  I  became  secretary  of  that  board) 

I  s  entry  ought  not  to  have  been  made  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund 

k  I;!'.,  i  OL!?lV  2  have  been  made  upon  the  warrant  book  of  the  board  of  pub- 

oiks,  which  the  statute  required  the  second  auditor  to  keep  in  his  office  but 
g?Jalnot  s,°.  kePL  Mr.  Morrison  had,  however,  entered  it  in  the  warrant 
irhe  JhG  fund  but  afterwards  on  comparing  the  account  with  that  kept 

c'hv  !|  ryi?  C!’  he  found  that  hls  account  was  muddled  by  reason  of  this 

tc  mreedwhh  Urhpnr2  Wlth  the  uTUJY  account  Then  -  to  force  his  account 
ir  fh  k  ^  the  trefsurY  account,  he  had  run  his  pen  through  the  entry,  intend- 

ttWferffi5'  CanCn  lt-n  m  ™aking  my  examination  now,  I  found  this  entry  but 
r  perfectly  cancelled  and  likely  to  mislead.  I  therefore  took  a  pen  and  rule/  and 

r°Ug  s.uffi9ient‘y.  as  1  thought,  to  cancel  it  effectuallv 
-  j  en  Proceeded  with  my  examination,  making  the  same  very  carefully  and 


36 


minutely.  But  up  to  the  ist  of  October,  1873,  I  disopvered  no  error  in  tl 
warrant  book  except  such  as  had  been  “  corrected,”  and  mone  in  the  stateine: 
compiled  by  the  two  auditors.  Beyond  that  date  I  continued  my  examinatic 
with  the  same  carefulness  and  particularity,  and  presently  I  came  to  the  entry 
the  warrant  book,  of  date  November  nth,  1873,  which  is  the  entry  alleged  to  1 
forged  in  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried.  This  entry  as  I  then  read  it,  th 
Friday  night,  or  rather  Saturday  morning,  ior  it  was  then  after  1  o’clock,  A.  M.- 
which  was  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  it  in  my  lifie — read  as  follows  : 

“  1873,  November  7. — By  warrant  No.  7.  to 

Planters’  National  Bank 

for  purchase  of  $8,100 

of  Virginia  consolidated  bonds.  J  $8,190.25.” 

This  entry  was  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Morrison.  As  I  then  read  it,  I  sa 
instantly  that  it  was  manifestly  an  error.  It  could  not  possibly  be  true  th; 
$8,190.25  had  been  paid  for  only  $8,100  (face  value)  of  bonds.  My  conjectui 
at  the  moment  was  that  in  entering  the  warrant  on  the  book,  Mr.  Morrison  ha 
gotten  the  amount  of  dollars  and  the  amount  of  bonds  confused  in  his  mind,  ar 
had  written  the  amount  of  bonds  $8,100  instead  of  $18,100  as  it  should  have  bee 
Then,  impulsively,  as  it  were,  I  took  up  a  pen  and  inserted  a  figure  1  ”  betwef 
the  “  $  ”  mark  and  the  figure  “  8  ”  making  the  entry  correct — $18,100. 

On  immediately  comparing  this  entry  with  that  corresponding  to  it  in  tl 
statement  compiled  by  the  two  auditors  I  found  the  entry  there  also  “  8,100,”  tin 
showing  that  neither  auditor  Taylor  nor  auditor  Rogers  had  detected  the  erp 
when  they  were  examining  the  warrant  book  and  making  out  from  it  this  stat1 
ment  of  the  amount  of  bonds  purchased.  This  statement  as  I  have  befol 
remarked  had  been  taken  down  with  a  lead  pencil.  I  now  took  my  pencil  ail 
with-  it  I  entered  upon  this  statement  compiled  by  the  two  auditors  in  the  ent 
“  8,100  ”  the  figure  “  1  ”  before  the  figures  “  8,100  ”  making  it  read  “  18,10c 
and  thus  also  making  it  correspond  with  the  corrected  entry  in  the  warrant  boi 
from  which  it  had  been  taken  down. 

The  discovery  of  this  error  created  great  uneasiness  in  my  mind  anew,  ai 
threw  me  into  the  most  painful  alarm.  But  I  went  on  with  my  examination  ai 
completed  it.  I  found  all  the  other  entries  correct  in  the  warrant  book  and  cc 
rectly  taken  down  in  the  statement  compiled  by  the  two  auditors.  I  now  becar 
painfully  excited  and  thoroughly  alarmed.  I  had  gone  into  the  examinatH 
hoping  to  find  some  error  to  account  for  the  small  deficit  which  had  appeared 
exist  that  Friday  evening  and  behold  !  the  only  error  I  could  discover  result 
right  reversely  by  increasing  this  deficit  to  astounding  proportions. 

For  a  few  moments  I  could  scarcely  confide  in  my  own  actus  mtellectua 
which  adduced  such  a  conclusion.  Then  I  went  back  and  made  the  examinati 
all  over  again  very  carefully,  still  hoping  to  find  some  error  the  correction 
which  would  resolve  the  difficulty.  But  no  error  could  I  find.  But  worse,  a 
worse  !  I  now  discovered  with  fresh  astonishment,  and  increased  alarm,  an  i: 
portant  omission  which  the  two  auditors  had  made  in  computing  the  amount 
bonds  that  ought  to  be  on  hand.  At  the  beginning  of  the  investigation  on  Thai 
day  afternoon,  I  had  suggested  that  the  amount  of  bonds  that  ought  to  be 
hand,  up  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  ending  September  30th,  1873,  could  nn 
readily  be  ascertained  from  the  printed  reports  of  the  sinking  fund.  My  suggt 
tion  had,  indeed,  been  slighted  then  in  such  a  manner  as  to  repel  me  ;  but  I  h 
seen  at  that  very  time,  lying  on  the  table,  open,  before  the  two  auditors,  the  t" 
volumes  containing  the  reports  I  referred  to,  and  I  saw  them  looking  over  thf 
reports.  In  the  report  for  the  fiscal  year,  ending  September  30th,  1872,  it  \\ 
expressly  stated  that  $10,000  (face  value)  of  bonds  had  been  purchased  by  t; 


37 


oard  of  public  works,  and  transferred  to  the  sinking  fund,  and  this  amount 
ught,  therefore,  to  be  included  in  the  computation  of  the  amount  of  bonds  that 
ught  to  be  on  hand. 

If  you  will  now  take  that  report,  Mr.  Wise,  and  examine  it,  you  will  find 
fis  item  there  stated  so  expressly  and  prominently,  that  no  man  who  can  read 
Duld  fail  to  see  and  understand  it.  Having  seen  the  two  auditors  looking  at 
lat  report  in  making  the  investigation,  I  had  supposed  all  along  that  they  had 
icluded  this  $10,000  of  bonds,  purchased  by  the  board  of  public  works,  and 
ansferred  to  the  sinking  fund  in  their  computation  of  the  amount  of  bonds  that 
jght  to  be  on  hand.  But  on  examination  now,  I  was  astounded  to  find  that 
ley  had  not.  This  discovery  again  added  to  my  painful  excitement,  and  in- 
eased  my  alarm  beyond  expression.  It  was  now  apparent  to  my  mind  that 
lere  was  a  deficit  of  bonds  to  the  amount  of  over  $20,000  !  I  was  completely 
unned  by  the  shock  of  this  discovery,  and  sat  there  for  some  time,  I  know  not 
)w  long,  scarcely  able  even  to  think  ;  so  inexpressibly  painful  was  my  anguish 
mind. 

My  meditations — if,  indeed,  such  bewildered  mental  efforts  as  my  mind  was 
en  alone  capable  of  making  may  be  called  meditations— involved  me  more  and 
ore  in  a  maze  of  the  most  distressing  anxieties.  As  well  as  I  could  reflect  at 
,  I  gave  my  thoughts  to  the  painful  consideration  of  the  complicated  circum- 
mces  which  seemed  to  be  conspiring  against  me  with  the  grim  aspect  of  unto- 
itrd  fate  itself..  I  can  recall  the  disjointed  train  of  these  distracting  reflections, 
:en  now  (for,  indeed,  I  can  never  forget  them).  I  now  reflected  that  the  course 
:  Gov.  Kemper,  from  the  outset  had  manifested  a  hostile  animus  towards  me  ; 

:  it  the  apparent  pruriency  with  which  he  had  listened  to  whispered  “rumors  and 
•’orts  ”  against  me,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  he  had  hastened  to  arraign 
r  as  obnoxious  to  his  “  suspicions ’’—showed  very  plainly  his  purpose  to  entan- 
me  if  possible  ,  whilst  the  political,  and  personal,  influence  he  then  wielded, 

:  idered  him  a  very  formidable  adversary.  By  taking  a  sort  of  “  snap-judg-’ 

i  nt  ”  on  me  he  had  directed  all  eyes  upon  me,  as  alone,  of  all  persons,  to  be 
( Jspected,  and  alas  !  I  could  but  remember  with  the  keenest  regret  that  the 

entlemanly  dissipations  ’’  in  which  I  had  foolishly  ^indulged,  would  be  used  to 
1  fullest  extent,  and  also  exaggerated,  to  give  color  to  the  “  suspicions,”  which 
ihad  thrown  around  me.  The  deficiency  of  bonds  which  I  had  discovered, 

1  i  not  indeed  been  discovered,  as  yet,  by  any  one  but  myself,  and  it  might  be’ 
lit  it  would  not  be  discovered  by  any  one  else  without  my  assistance ;  at  least  not 
riny  short. time.  And  the  question  was,  what  should  I  do  about  it?  Under 
11.  other  cn cumstances,  there  would,  of  course,  have  been  no  difficulty  about 
Riding.  I  should  at  once  have  disclosed  the  fact.  But  now,  I  reflected,  if  I 
li  so,  it  would  be  necessary  also  to  account  for  it.  It  would  not  do  for  me 
n  ely  to  disclose  the  fact,  and  declare  my  inability  to  account  for  it.  The  pecu- 
u  cjrc]urnstances  in  which  Gov.  Kemper’s  “suspicions”  had  placed  me,  required 

ii  I  should  show  who  was  responsible  for  this  deficit  of  the  bonds,  in  order  to 
■>  rlpate  myself.  I  could  but  consider  also  that  Gov.  Kemper’s  acrimonious 
>1  aught  upon. me,  backed,  as  it  would  be,  by  the  personal  and  political  infiu- 
|P  of  his  eminence  as  the  governor  of  the  commonwealth,  would  arouse  such 
1  rrent  of  public  sentiment  against  me  as  would  be  irresistible  by  any  citizen  of 
n  humble  station.,  Thus  while  I  would  be  singled  out  for  attack,  as  the  only 
>e °n  “suspected,”  the  thousand  tongues  o'f  public  rumor  would  magnify  the 
fc  irnor  s  aspersive  “  suspicions  ”  into  a  throng  of  monsters,  whose  very  propoi 
ic :  would  make  them  truly  formidable  in  the  attack  upon  me ;  each  one  of 
^hwocfld  be  capable  of  piercing  my  moral  sensibilities  a  thousand  times  more 
la  iully  than  if  it  physically  drew  drops  of  my  heart’s  blood.  I  had  not,  indeed, 


38 


the  slightest  apprehensions,  whatever,  as  to  any  criminal  proceedings  against  r 
for  I  knew  I  had  committed  no  crime,  and  I  did  not  dream  then  that  in  the  courts 
Virginia  I  could  ever  be  convicted  of  a  crime  which  I  had  never  commits 
But  in  the  high  court  of  public  opinion,  and  especially  among  the  hightoned' 
sociations  to  which  I  was  accustomed,  I  knew  that  the  old  Scotch  verdict  of  “i 
proven,”  would  not  suffice  for  my  vindication.  There ,  I  knew,  that  if  I  coi 
not  prove  a  negative — that  I  had  not  taken  these  bonds — it  would  be  all  o 
with  me. 

From  such  torturing  reflections,  I  could  reach  no  satisfactory  conclusion, 
therefore  determined  to  wait  until  my  mind  became  more  composed,  and  I  1 
calmly  and  fully  considered  the  subject  in  all  its  aspects  before  undertaking  to 
anything  in  the  premises.  Accordingly,  I  concluded  to  wait  until  next  morni 
(or  rather,  until  later  that  morning,  for  it  was  now  after  two  o’clock  A.  M.),  bef 
making  up  my  mind  what  to  do. 

With  this  idea  in  my  mind  I  reasoned  that,  whatever  I  might  conclude  to 
after  mature  deliberation,  it  would  be  best  for  the  present,  at  least,  to  leave  1 
warrant  book  and  all  the  papers  and  memoranda  exactly  as  I  had  found  th 
when  I  came  there  to  make  the  examination  which,  alas  !  had  resulted  so  c 
tressingly  to  me.  Accordingly,  thereupon  I  took  my  penknife  and  scratched  out 
numeral  “i”  which  I  had  inserted,  as  I  have  related,  between  the  and  the  nui: 
ral  “8”  in  the  entry  in  the  warrant  book.  Then  I  took  an  india-rubber  erasure,  lyi 
there  on  the  treasurer’s  desk,  and  rubbed  out  the  numeral  “i”  which,  as  I  have  a 
related,  I  had  written  in  pencil-mark  before  the  numeral  “8”  in  the  correspond 
entry  in  the  statement  compiled  by  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers  on  a  sheet 
foolscap  paper.  Having  done  this  I  put  this  statement  and  all  the  other  pap 
and  memoranda  back  into  the  warrant  book  just  as  I  found  them,  and  tl 
replaced  the  warrant  book,  with  the  papers  and  memoranda  in  it,  on  top  of 
treasurer’s  desk  whence  I  had  taken  it  when  I  came  into  the  room  to  nu 
the  examination.  Then  I  got  up  and  turned  down  the  gas  in  the  room  ( 
treasurer’s  private  office)  and  passed  out  of  that  room  into  the  front,  or  pub 
office  of  the  treasury  by  the  door  connecting  the  two,  as  I  had  entered,  leav 
the  door  unlocked  just  as  I  found  it ;  and  then  I  passed  on  out  of  the  cap 
through  that  portion  of  the  second  auditor’s  office  used  by  the  board  of  pul 
works.  As  I  passed  out  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Beach,  the  watchman,  who  was  aroi 
on  the  other  side  of  the  room  near  the  fire-place,  and  bade  him  good-night  < 
requested  him  to  put  out  the  light  which  was  still  burning  near  my  desk.  I  tj 
went  directly  to  my  own  room  at  my  boarding-house,  about  a  square  from  ! 
capitol,  at  the  corner  of  Tenth  and  Capitol  streets. 

As  soon  as  I  reached  my  room  I  went  to  bed.  but  not  to  sleep.  With 
mind  harassed  and  tortured  as  it  was,  I  found  it  impossible  to  obtain  sleep,  thoi 
knowing  it  to  be  essential  to  the  calming  of  my  mental  excitement.  For  ho 
it  seemed  ages  to  me,  I  lay  there  awake,  casting  over  and  over  in  my  mind 
excruciating  reflections  to  which  my  discovery  of  the  deficit  of  bonds  had  gi 
birth.  Towards  sunrise,  1  think  it  must  have  been,  from  mere  physical  exh; 
tion  I  fell  into  ^  sort  of  troubled  slumber  from  which  I  was  not  aroused  till  1 
after  my  usual  hour  of  rising. 

About  io  o’clock  that  (Saturday)  morning  I  left  my  room  and  went  direct! 
the  capitol.  Such  was  my  mental  distress,  or  rather  distraction,  that  I  was 
conscious  of  any  physical  appetite,  and  went  to  the  capitol  without  any  break 
I  had  been  unable  to  reach  any  conclusion  as  to  what  it  was  best  for  me  to 
but  had  mentally  agreed  to  go  and  consult  some  of  my  friends  and  be  guidec 
their  advice. 

But,  as  I  am  now  about  to  relate,  this  purpose  was  suddenly  set  at  nat 


d  a  new  direction  given  to  my  thoughts  and  actions  by  a  mere  matter  oj  cir- 
mstance.  On  reaching  the  capitol  I  entered  the  second  auditor’s  office  as  usual 
d  passed  directly  to  my  desk.  Just  as  I  did  so,  auditor  Rogers  came  to  me 
th  an  appearance  of  great  gratulation,  and  told  me  that  “  everything  is  all 
;ht.’  He  then  went  on  to  inform  me  how  he  had  caused  a  careful  search  to  be 
ide  of  the  safe  in  his  office,  and  that  the  result  was  the  finding  of  a  package  of 
nds  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund,  which  made  it  “  all  right.”  This  package, 
said,  contained  a  $1,000  “peeler”  bond  and  a  small  fractional  certificate, 
jether  with  a  memorandum  in  my  handwriting,  showing  that  a  little  over  $1,200 
fractional  certificates  had  been  handed  to  Mr.  Poiteaux,  the  transfer  clerk,  with 
ections  to  consolidate  the  same  and  issue  in  lieu  thereof  one  $1,000  bond  and 
:  remainder  in  $100  bonds,  and  a  new  fractional  certificate  for  the  fraction  less 
in  one  hundred  dollars.  This  package,  it  appeared,  had  been  in  the  safe  about  a 
ir.  It  appeared  on  examination  that  the  $1 ,000  bond  had  not  been  signed  by  the 
ond  auditor  but  only  by  the  treasurer,  which  showed  that  the  transaction  which 
:urred  just  before  I  was  taken  sick  in  February  1873,  the  recollection  of  which 
1  afforded  me  such  relief  in  the  earlier  stage  of  my  distress,  had  been  left  un- 
npleted  and  was  exactly  as  I  have  herein  related  it. 

Auditor  Rogers  congratulated  me  very  warmly  upon  this  discovery  which  he 
light  would  account  for  the  deficiency  which  appeared  to  exist  at  the  adjourn - 
nt  the  previous  evening  ;  or  so  nearly  so  that  it  showed  that  “  everything  is 
right,”  as  he  expressed  it.  As  he  was  thus  in  the  act  of  “  congratulating  ”  me, 
l  before  I  had  time  to  make  any  response,  auditor  Taylor  came  up  and  also 
mgratulated  ”  me,  he  having  been  apprised,  I  suppose,  of  the  discovery  of  the 
:  sing  package  previously  to  my  appearance  that  morning.  Whilst  this  was 
Pa  011  and  still  before  I  had  time  to  take  any  part  in  the  conversation,  treasurer 
■y°  a^so  came  in,  from  the  direction  of  the  treasury  office,  and  handed  me  a 
ikage  wrapped  up  in  yellow  paper  and  marked  “  sinking  fund  ”  in  his  hand- 
'  ing,  and  directly  underneath  this  “  $4,400  ”  in  figures.  He  said  it  contained 
:ie  bonds  that  he  had  “  found  ”  in  the  treasury  safe.  When  he  thus  announc- 
:  he  “  finding  ”  of  this  package  auditor  Taylor  remarked  that  this  amount  will 
|'er-run  the  account ;  ”  I  said  nothing,  but  treasurer  Mayo  replied  that  the 
&2ss  was  in  consequence  of  some  exchanges  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  which 
£  been  made  and  the  “  difference  ”  put  into  the  sinking  fund. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  I  fell  into  the  most  stupendous  error.  I  have 
ii  e  bitterly,  but  unavailingly,  lamented  it.  Instead  of  making  known,  then  and 
I  e,  the  discoveries  I  had  made  about  the  deficit  of  bonds  in  the  sinking  fund, 

5  certainly  should  have  done,  I  said  nothing,  but  held  my  peace,  and  permit- 
Kthe  two  auditors  to  go  on  in  error.  As  to  treasurer  Mayo,  I  was  mystified, 
a  puzzled  by  his  conduct,  which  to  me  was  inexplicable  then.  I  do  not  at- 
fj  *  to  justify  my  conduct  on  that  occasion,  and  the  only  excuse  to  be  offered 
r:  is  the  feverish  and  distracted  mental,  and  physical,  condition  in  which  I  then 

6  As  I  have  stated,  my  mind  had  been  in  the  most  intolerable  torment  for 
E  y  hours  ;  I  had  passed  a  restless  night,  had  taken  no  refreshment  of  any  kind 
I  .stain  my  physical  energies,  and  had  come  to  the  capitol  in  the  greatest  anx- 
t;  and  distress  every  way.  And  when  auditor  Rogers  greeted  me  with  the 
eome, assurance  that  “  everything  is  all  right,”  it  seemed  to  promise  such  relief 
a  my  utter  wretchedness,  that  I  had  notffhe  moral  courage  to  cast  it  aside, 
fc  :over,  at  that  moment,  the  thought  occurred  to  me,  that  as  Gov.  Kemper, 
ic  lot  asked  me  for  an  exhibit  of  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  but  had  taken 
e  thing  out  of  my  hands,  and  ordered  an  investigation,  and  as  the  only  sug- 
:s  m  I  had  ventured  to  make  in  the  earlier  stages  of  that  investigation  had  been 
p  ed  by  the  two  auditors,  it  was  not  for  me  now  to  interfere  for  their  enlight- 


40 


enment.  And  thus  I  fell  upon  the  idea  that  I  would  let  these  gentlemen  go  < 
and  report  the  result  of  their  “  investigation,”  as  I  presumed  they  would  d 
stating  the  condition  of  the  sinking  fund  in  accordance  with  their  erroneous  u 
derstanding  of  the  facts  ;  and  after  they  had  thus  erroneously  reported,  I  wou 
myself  take  measures  to  discover  what  had  become  of  the  missing  $ 20,000 
bonds,  and  make  a  proper  report  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund, 
the  form  of  an  exhibit ,  specifying  the  errors  into  which  the  two  auditors  had  fi 
len  in  their  “  investigation,”  and  stating  my  own  discovery  of  the  $20,000  defic 
and  my  further  discovery  of  the  cause  of  it.  So  rapid  was  the  action — or  rath 
the  vaporings — of  my  excited  fancy,  but  enfeebled  judgment. 

In  addition  to  this,  I  must  also  frankly  admit  that  the  thought  was  unutter 
bly  terrible  to  me,  that  if  I  should  announce  this  large  deficit  of  bonds  under  ti 
then  existing  circumstances — I  alone  being  “  suspected  ” — it  would  precipita 
upon  me  an  avalanche  of  complications  to  which  Gov.  Kemper’s  attack  upon  n 
had  given  momentum.  And  thus  it  was  I  fell  into  the  stupendous  error  of  n 
standing  up  boldly  at  that  critical  juncture  with  a  manly  statement  of  the  re 
facts  as  I  had  discovered  them. 

“  The  fault  was  mine  ;  nor  do  I  seek  to  screen, 

My  errors  with  defensive  paradox.” 

After  some  further  “  congratulatory  ”  remarks  from  the  auditors,  to  whic 
if  I  made  any  response  I  do  not  remember  it,  for  my  mind  was  bewildered  ai 
excited,  I  took  the  package  of  bonds  found  in  auditor  Rogers’  safe,  and  that  pr 
duced  by  treasurer  Mayo,  and  went  with  him  to  the  treasury  safe  into  which  I  p 
them  along  with  the  other  sinking  fund  bonds  there.  Not  a  word  was  said  by  tres 
urer  Mayo,  or  myself,  except  an  enquiry  from  me,  and  an  affirmative  respon 
from  him,  as  to  whether  I  should  thus  put  these  bonds  away.  And  nothing  w 
said  to  me,  further,  during  the  day  by  any  person  about  the  matter,  or  abo 
anything  pertaining  to  the  investigation.  I  presumed  that  the  two  auditors  ai 
the  treasurer  would  now  report  to  Gov.  Kemper  the  result  of  their  “  investig 
tion  ”  as  being  satisfactory,  and  my  own  purpose  was  as  speedily  as  possible 
take  measures  to  unravel  the  web  of  circumstances  by  which  I  was  beset,  ai 
report  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  such  manner  as  would  enable  me  to  protect  mysc 

[It  afterwards  appeared  in  evidence  at  my  trial  that  that  same  (Saturda 
morning,  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  was  found  on  top  of  the  treasure 
desk  in  his  private  office ;  although  auditor  Rogers  testified  that  he  believed  1 
had  put  it  into  the  treasurer’s  safe,  the  previous  evening  and  did  not  know  how 
got  out  again.  But  in  the  light  of  my  statement  it  will  now  be  understood, 
further  appeared  in  evidence  at  my  trial  that  that  same  (Saturday)  mornii 
auditor  Rogers  instructed  one  of  his  clerks  (Mr.  DeWitt,)  to  make  a  copy  of  t 
said  warrant  book,  (though  for  what  purpose  was  not  stated),  and  the  said  warra 
book  was  probably  in  the  hands  of  this  clerk  and  being  copied  at  the  mome 
when  auditor  Rogers  was  extending  his  “  congratulations  ”  to  me]. 

After  going  with  treasurer  Mayo  to  fine  treasurer’s  safe  and  putting  away  t 
two  packages  of  bonds,  I  left  the  capitol  at  once  to  get  some  breakfast ;  and  th 
returned  to  work  at  my  desk.  The  action  of  my  mind  during  the  remainder 
that  forenoon,  and  the  afternoon,  wras  but  a  repetition  of  the  ideas  which  had  fi: 
occurred  to  me. 

Considering  that  it  was  now  necessary  to  go  on  with  my  official  duties  as 
I  had  no  idea  of  being  removed  from  office,  I  determined  that  as  soon  as  t 
“  investigation  ”  was  over,  I  wrould  get  all  the  bonds  knowm  as  “  bearer  bonds 
belonging  to  the  sinking  fund,  converted  into  registered  bonds  as  soon  as  possibi 
for  their  safe  keeping.  My  purpose  was  to  have  all  the  bonds  belonging  to  t: 
sinking  fund,  including  the  “  fractional  pieces,”  converted  into  registered  bom 


41 


*  stand  in  the  name  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund.  Now,  in  making 
ich  conversions  it  was  necessary  to  have  the  “  fractional  pieces  ”  to  be  so  con- 
:rted,  in  whole  hundred  dollar  amounts,  or  multiples  thereof ;  and  on  several  oc- 
isions  previously  I  had  purchased  small  “  fractional  pieces  ”  to  add  to  those  on 
md  to  make  even  hundreds  when  having  such  conversions  made.  According 
1  the  result  of  the  “  investigation  ”  when  it  was  adjourned  on  Friday  evening 
ere  was  a  “  fractional  amount  ”  on  hand  of  the  bonds  belonging  to  the  sinking 
nd  of  about  $40.  As  a  preliminary  to  the  conversions  into  registered  bonds 
hich  I  purposed  to  have  made,  I  wanted  to  procure  for  the  sinking  fund  an 
nount  of  “  fractional  certificates  ”  to  put  with  this  $40,  sufficient  to  make  an  even 
:oo,  say  $60.  I  therefore  went  to  several  of  the  brokers  from  whom  I  had  before 
irchased  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund,  and  enquired  for  a  “  fractional  certificate  ” 
$60,  informing  them  at  the  time  of  the  purpose  for  which  I  wanted  that  particular 
nount.  It  happened  that  Mr.  Cohen  had  nearly  the  amount,  that  is,  he  had  “  a 
ece  ”  as  it  was  called,  somewhat  less  than  $60,  and  I  agreed  to  purchase  that, 
it  upon  condition  that  I  could  procure  from  some  other  broker  another  “  piece  ” 
“  pieces  ”  to  put  with  it  and  make  up  the  $60.  He  was  to  keep  it  until  the 
lowing  Monday,  and  in  the  meantime  I  was  to  see  if  I  could  get  a  “  piece  ”  to 
it  with  it  for  the  purpose  indicated.  I  did  not,  however,  call  for  it  on  the  fol¬ 
ding  Monday  morning,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel.  From  Mr.  Cohen’s  I  went 
the  banking  house  of  Messrs.  Isaacs,  Taylor  &  Williams,  and  upon  making 
i;  same  enquiry  and  stating  my  purpose  as  I  did  to  Mr.  Cohen,  I  found  that  I 
aid  procure  a  “  fractional  certificate  ”  the  amount  of  which  added  to  that  at 
;.  Cohen’s  would  exceed  the  amount  ($66)  which  I  wanted  by  a  few  dollars, 
linking  that,  if  I  could  do  no  better,  I  could  make  this  answer  my  purpose,  I 
vreed  to  purchase  it  for  the  sinking  fund,  but  upon  the  same  conditions  that  I 
p  made  with  Mr.  Cohen.  I  received  this  “  piece  ”  from  Messrs.  Isaacs,  Taylor 

I  Williams,  and  put  it  in  my  pocket,  with  the  understanding  that  if  I  did  not 
'  urn  it  on  or  before  Monday,  they  would  send  up  to  the  capitol  and  get  a  warrant 

‘  the  amount  of  the  purchase  money.  But  afterwards  on  going  to  the  office  of 
bssrs.  R.  H.  Maury  &  Co.,  I  found  and  purchased  a  “  piece  ”  for  exactly  $60 
'  tli  perhaps  a  few  cents  over),  and  as  this  would  suit  my  purpose  precisely,  I 
:<  k  it  to  the  capitol  and  put  it  into  the  little  tin-box  in  which  I  kept  the  papers 
Jthe  sinking  fund ;  the  understanding  with  Messrs.  Maury  &  Co.  being  that  they 
^  aid,  on  Monday,  send  a  clerk  to  the  capitol  and  get  a  warrant  for  the  amount 
3  the  purchase  money  ;  I  intending,  of  course,  to  inform  the  commissioners  of 
;1  sinking  fund  of  the  purchase  and  to  get  their  approval  of  the  same.  This 
‘  actional  certificate  ”  was  in  the  said  little  tin-box  at  the  time  of  my  arrest,  but 
[  ive  no  further  knowledge  about  it  except  as  I  have  learned  from  the  published 
X  orts  about  the  sinking  fund,  which  show  that  Messrs.  R.  H.  Maury  &  Co.  did  get 
Warrant  for  the  amount  of  the  purchase  money  after  my  arrest. 

The  fractional  certificate  which  I  obtained  from  Messrs.  Isaacs,  Taylor  & 

A  liams,  I  kept  in  my  pocket  to  return  to  them  the  following  Monday,  in  ac- 
X  lance  with  my  agreement  with  them.  It  remained  in  my  pocket  until  several 
k  3  after  my  arrest ;  though  in  the  multiplicity  of  miseries  by  which  I  was  then 
>e:t,  I  forgot  it  for  the  time.  But  after  I  had  been  in  jail  several  days,  I  remem- 
ie  d  the  matter,  and  sent  for  my  coat,  which  was  at  my  boarding-house,  in 

II  :h  I  found  the  fractional  certificate  safe  and  undisturbed.  I  then  sent  a  mes- 
a :■  to  Mr.  W.  B.  Isaacs,  by  Dr.  Dove,  the  physician  at  the  jail,  requesting  him 
3  ill  and  see  me  on  business.  He  came,  and  I  delivered  the  fractional  certifi- 
a  to  him,  to  be  delivered  to  the  firm  of  Isaacs,  Taylor  and  Williams,  of  which 
e  ’as  the  senior  member. 

Although  this  circumstantial  relation  of  this  transaction  may  not  have  been 

H" " 


42 


necessary,  I  have  made  it  for  two  reasons — First,  because  corroborative  of  i 
statement  as  to  my  intention,  after  the  occurrence  between  auditors  Taylor  a 
Rogers,  and  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself  that  Saturday  morning,  to  get  the  affa 
of  the  sinking  fund  into  proper  condition  at  once,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  1 
real  amount  of  the  deficit  ol  bonds,  discovering  the  cause  of  such  deficit,  a 
reporting  all  the  facts  in  the  form  of  an  exhibit ;  and,  Second,  because,  as  my  sta 
ment  of  these  facts  can  be  verified  on  taking  the  testimony  of  Messrs.  Coh 
Maury  and  Isaacs,  the  other  parties  to  the  transaction  related,  it  will  show  tl 
my  recollection  is  very  clear  and  distinct,  even  as  to  immaterial  particulars. 

During  the  remainder  of  that  Saturday  morning,  until  about  2  o’clock  P. 
I  was  at  work  at  my  desk  completing  the  statement  I  have  mentioned,  whic" 
was  preparing  for  the  house  committee  on  roads  and  internal  navigation,  show: 
the  disposition  made  of  the  state’s  interest  in  the  various  internal  improveim 
companies. 

About  2  o’clock  p.  m.,  Gov.  Kemper,  as  president  of  the  board  of  pul 
works,  called  a  meeting  of  that  board,  which  was  held  in  the  private  office  of  1 
treasury,  and  some  questions  concerning  certain  turnpike  interests  were  cons 
ered,  and  disposed  of.  While  the  board  was  in  session,  auditor  Rogers  came 
and  by  invitation  of  Gov.  Kemper,  remained  during  the  session  of  the  boa 
The  board  adjourned  about  3  o’clock,  and  after  their  adjournment,  those  prese 
namely,  Gov.  Kemper,  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers,  treasurer  Mayo  and  mys 
remained  together  in  the  room,  engaged  in  general  conversation,  on  various  t< 
ics  ;  but  no  allusion  was  made  by  any  one  to  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund.  A 
a  little  time  passed  pleasantly  in  this  way,  I  gathered  up  the  minute-book  of 
board  of  public  works,  together  with  certain  papers  which  had  been  laid  bef 
the  board  that  day,  and  took  them  all  to  my  desk,  and  locked  them  up.  T 
I  returned  to  the  treasury  private  office,  where  Gov.  Kemper,  and  the  other  g 
tlemen  named  still  remained,  and  enquired  (in  these  very  words) :  Gentlemen 
you  want  me  any  more  this  evening  ?  Gov.  Kemper  was  at  the  moment  sitt 
on  a  sofa  immediately  under  the  window,  and  waving  his  hand  in  characteri 
style  answered  in  the  negative.  I  looked  around  to  all  the  other  gentlemer 
an  inquiring  way,  and  they  all  assented  to  Gov.  Kemper’s  answer  that  t 
would  not  want  me  any  more  that  evening.  Then  I  told  the  party  good-even 
and  left,  going  directly  to  my  boarding-house  to  dinner.  After  dinner,  I  wen 
my  room,  and  spent  some  time  there  reading  ;  then  came  down  to  the  parlol 
the  boarding-house,  and  remained  there  until  supper-time  with  several  ladies 

Shortly  after  supper  I  started  out  from  my  boarding  house  to  go  to  a  bai 
shop  on  Broad  street  to  shave  for  Sunday,  as  was  my  custom  ;  but  as  I  was  pi 
ing  up  Broad  street,  between  Ninth  and  Eighth,  I  encountered  treasurer  M 
coming  out  of  a  store  about  midway  the  square.  I  accosted  him  familiarly 
the  friendly  salutations  which  were  customary  between  us  passed  as  usual.  I  t 
asked  him  jocularly  what  he  was  doing  out  on  the  streets  after  dark.  He  rep 
in  a  mumbling  sort  of  way  that  he  had  been  making  some  family  purchases, 
then  joined  me  and  we  walked  together  up  Broad  street  twenty  or  thirty  p 
without  any  word  spoken  further  between  us.  He  then  turned  to  me  abru 
and  asked  :  Look  here,  what  made  you  leave  us  this  evening  ?  I  supposed 
he  referred  to  my  leaving  him  and  Gov.  Kemper,  and  the  two  auditors  toge 
in  the  treasury  office,  after  the  meeting  of  the  board  of  public  works,  and  I  rej 
that  I  had  asked  Gov.  Kemper  if  I  would  be  wanted  any  more  that  evening, 
he  said  no,  and  nobody  else  had  invited  me  to  stay.  But  why  do  you  ask, 
added,  and  what  did  you  all  do  ?  I  noticed  then  that  he  seemed  to  be  pain 
disturbed,  and  I  thought  he  had  been  drinking  more  than  usual.  He  appe 
to  be  in  the  incipient  stage  of  maudlin  drunkenness.  In  reply  to  my  questiol 


43 


immenced  speaking  at  first  very  slowly,  mumbling  his  words,  indistinctly.  1 
ithered  from  what  he  said  as  we  walked  along  that  after  I  had  left  the  treasury 
fice  Gov.  Kemper  had  also  left,  but  that  he  and  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers 
mained  and  concluded  to  finish  up  the  work  of  the  “  investigation”  that  eveniW  ; 
iat  they  had  gotten  the  work  nearly  done  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  when  auditor 
ogers^I  well  remember  the  expression  treasurer  Mayo  used)— “  a  damned  old 
■anny  took  the  warrant  book  in  hand  and  went  over  the  entries  in  it,  com- 
enting  as  he  went  along  upon  the  low  prices  that  had  been  paid  for  the  bonds 
irehased  for  the  sinking  fund,  “  as  if”  (added  treasurer  Mayo  with  a  bitter  sneer) 
he  was  entitled  to  any  credit  for  buying  the  bonds  at  these  low  prices  ;  ”  that 
ter  examining  the  warrant  book  in  this  manner  for  some  time,  auditor  Rogers 
me  to  an  entry  in  which  it  appeared  that  the  amount  of  money  paid  was  greater 
an  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  purchased,  and  after  studying  over 
is  entry  a  little  while,  he  had  called  auditor  Taylor’s  attention  to  it,  saying  that 
;  thought  it  must  be  a  mistake ;  that  auditor  Taylor  had  then  taken  the  war- 
nt-book,  and  very  closely  scrutinized  the  entry  in  question,  then  holding  up 
e  page  between  his  eyes  and  the  light,  he  declared  that  the  entry  had  been 
.ered  by  scratching;  out  a  figure  with  a  knife,  and  had  then  pointed  out  the  * 
ace  on  the  surface  of  the  paper,  where  an  erasure  had  been  made ;  that  after 
rther  examination,,  they  found  that  this  discovery  would  make  a  difference  of 
me  $  10,000  more  in  the  amount  of  bonds  purchased,  making  the  amount  of 
mds  on  hand  fall  short,  and  thus  putting  matters  “  in  a  hell  of  a  muss,”  (Col 
avo  s  words). 

This  is  a  concise  and  accurate  recital  of  treasurer  Mayo’s  communication  to 
",  made  in  great  part  in  his  own  words,  though  not  altogether  so,  for  he  was 
stered  in  his  manner,  and  faltering  in  his  speech,  and  I  had  to  gather  his  mean- 
?  as  well  as  I  could.  But  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers  were  (besides  treasurer 
ay°>)  the  only  persons  present,  I  believe,  in  the  treasury  office  at  the  time  of 
.  occurrences  related  to  me  by  treasurer  Mayo,  and  they  know  whether  the 
lent  points  are  here  correctly  stated. 

While  treasurer  Mayo  was  telling  me  all  this,  we  walked  along,  and  I  was 
mt.  As  the  Gets  he  related  took  possession  of  my  mind,  I  saw  that  there  was 
w  no  probability  that  I  could  carry  out  my  plans  to  unravel  the  mystery  of 
;  missing  $20,000  of  bonds,  and  to.  disclose  the  facts  in  the  form  of  an  exhibit 
t  e  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund.  Bitterly  did  I  regret  then  that  I  had  not  dis- 
sed  my  discoveries  that  morning  when  I  came  to  the  capitol,  and  was  greeted 
auditor  Rogers  with  the  assurance  that  “  everything  is  all  right.”  But  I  deter- 
red  at  any  rate,  that  I  would  not  repeat  that  error  now ;  and  by  the  time  treas- 
■r  Mayo  had  concluded  his  communication  to  me  I  had  formed  the  resolution 
face  affairs  by  disclosing  all  the  facts  in  my  possession,  and  fight  out  my  own 
dication  fearlessly,  as  I  should  have  done  from  the  first 

By  the  time  treasurer  Mayo  had  finished  making  this  communication  to  me, 

nnm  i  corner1  of  Seventh  and  Broad  streets,  and  we  both  paused  and 
od  beside  the  theatre  lamp-post.  I  then  answered  him  as  I  would  have  an- 
:red  it  the  whole  world  had  heen  listening ;  for  my  resolution  was,  as  1  have 
F  t0  hSht  my  difficulties  out  on  the  line  of  full  disclosures.  Fortified  in  my 
1 1  c°nscience,  by  the  consciousness  that  I  had  committed  no  crime,  I  felt  that 
.  defence  was  in  the  disclosure  of  all  the  facts.  I  then  told  him,  first,  as  to  the 
try  in  the  warrant  book  which  auditor  Taylor  discovered  had  been  scratched, 

jjj.tu  e^PIai?  1  remlnded  him  how  the  evening  before  (Friday  evening) 
.the  deficit  of  $1,400  (face  value)  of  bonds  had  been  discovered,  and  when 
itor  Rogers  was  putting  the  warrant  book  into  the  treasury  safe,  I  had  expres- 
my  desire  to.  make  an  examination  of  the  said  warrant-book,  and  of  the  state- 


-14 


ment  of  bonds  purchased,  which  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers  had  compiled  frc 
it  ;  and  how,  with  his  consent,  I  had  taken  the  said  warrant  book  with  all  t 
papers  in  it,  and  put  it  on  top  of  the  desk  in  the  treasury  office  ;  I  reminded  hi 
that  he  had  left  one  of  the  doors  of  the  treasury  private  office  unlocked  to  gi 
me  an  opportunity  to  make  the  desired  examination  ;  I  told  him  of  my  going 
the  capitol  that  night  to  make  the  examination ;  I  then  went  on  to  tell  him  ho; 
while  making  this  examination,  I  had  discovered  that  erroneous  entry  in  the  w< 
rant  book,  and  how  upon  comparison  with  the  statement  compiled  by  auditors  Ta 
lor  and  Rogers,  I  discovered  that  it  was  erroneously  entered  there  too  ;  I  told  h 
how  I  had  first  corrected  the  error  in  both  the  warrant  book  and  the  stateme 
compiled  by  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers,  by  inserting  the  figure  “  i  ”  in  eac 
I  told  him  that  after  completing  this  examination,  and  finding  a  deficit  of  abc 
$10,000  of  bonds,  the  cause  of  which  I  could  not  imagine,  I  had  made  a  re-t' 
animation,  but  the  only  result  was  the  discovery  that  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogt 
in  computing  their  statement  of  “  bonds  purchased  ”  had  not  included  the  $! 
ooo  of  bonds  purchased  by  the  board  of  public  works,  and  transferred  to  t 
sinking  fund  ;  whereby  I  found  that  the  real  deficit  was  above  $20,000  of  bonds 

Then  briefly  I  referred  to  the  great  mental  agony  I  had  endured  in  con; 
quence  of  these  discoveries  and  my  inability  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  defu 
1  told  him  that  in  my  distress  I  could  not  make  up  my  mind  at  that  early  hour 
the  morning  what  to  do,  but  that  I  had  thought  it  best,  at  least  for  the  present, 
leave  the  warrant  book  and  the  statement  compiled  from  it  by  auditors  Taylor  a 
Rogers  just  as  I  found  them,  and  to  take  time  to  think  over  my  situation  a 
decide  upon  my  course,  which  was  embarrassed  mainly  by  reason  of  t 
“  suspicions  ”  against  me  which  had  been  excited  by  the  “  rumors  and  report 
on  which  Gov.  Kemper,  with  a  precipitation  which  indicated  a  desire  to  entanj 
me,  had  ordered  an  investigation  of  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund.  I  told  hi 
in  conclusion,  that  with  this  idea  in  my  mind,  I  had  taken  my  knife  and  scratch 
out  the  figure  “  1  ”  which  I  had  inserted  in  the  entry  in  the  warrant  book  ;  th 
making  the  scratched  place  on  the  page  as,  I  supposed,  auditor  Taylor  had  d 
covered  it.  And  I  also  told  him  in  the  same  breath  that  I  had  then  taken  an  ind 
rubber  eraser  and  erased  the  figure  “  1  ”  in  pencil-mark  on  the  state77iC7it  compi 
by  a  uditors  Taylor  and  Rogers,  which  I  had  put  there. 

[As  you,  Mr.  Wise,  are  aware,  from  your  acquaintance  with  the  circumstan< 
of  my  trial,  this  conversation  I  held  with  treasurer  Mayo,  turned  out  to  be  1 
most  important  conversation  I  ever  held  in  my  life.  The  misuse  made  of  it 
treasurer  Mayo  was  exceedingly  fatal  to  me,  and  resulted,  indeed,  as  you  know 
bringing  about  my  conviction — conviction  of  a  crime  which  I  never  committ 
But  while  talking  with  treasurer  Mayo  I  never  had  the  remotest  idea  that  1 
words  could  be  tortured  into  a  “  confession  ”  of  a  felonious  act.  I  was  whe 
unconscious  of  having  committed  any  crime  and  did  not  dream  that  either 
ingenuity  or  disposition,  or  his  wildest  imagination  could  misinterpret  my  1; 
guage  into  a  “  confession  ”  of  criminality]. 

After  thus  detailing  to  treasurer  Mayo  all  these  facts,  I  added  that  I  blan 
myself  very  bitterly  tor  having  accepted  auditor  Rogers’s  assurance  that  morn 
that  “  everything  is  all  right”  ;  that  I  ought  then  to  have  disclosed  the  facts 
I  had  discovered  them.  He  made  no  immediate  response  to  what  I  had  toldh 
and,  after  a  pause,  I  asked  him  what  would  he  advise  me  to  do  now  ?  In  respo 
he  made  no  reference  to  anv  of  the  facts  I  had  told  him,  and  to  my  mind,  a, 
well  remembered  afterwards,  his  flustered  manner  and  faltering  speech  at  1 
point  were  unaccountable.  Presently  he  muttered  :  “  By  God,  you  ought  to  h. 
staid  there  this  evening.”  I  replied  that  I  was  at  my  boarding-house  (abou 
square’s  distance  from  the  capitol)  and  if  I  had  known  I  was  wanted  I  would  h  1 


45 


ppeared  at  once.  He  said,  then,  that  after  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers  had  dis¬ 
covered  the  .error  in  the  warrant  book,  he  left  them  to  go  to  look  for  me,  but  could 
ot  find  me  in  the  capitol.  I  replied  that  he  knew  where  my  boarding-house  was 
ad  he  ought  to  have  gone  or  sent  for  me  there. 

In  the  meantime,  the  tide  of  wretchedness  which  had  overwhelmed  me  the 
revious  evening  again  rushed  upon  me,  and  I  could  scarcely  even  think,  for  the 
expressible  anguish  of  spirit  with  which  I  contemplated  the  disasters  which 
iiemed  crowding  upon  me.  In  the  midst  of  these  agonized  feelings,  I  said  to 
•easurer  Mayo  that  I  supposed  Gov.  Kemper  would  now  have  an  excuse  for 
moving  me  from  office  ;  and  as  I  thought  of  the  stigma  which  would  rest  upon 
e  in  consequence  of  removal  under  such  circumstances,  I  told  him  I  was  a 
lined  man,  and  asked  him  what  he  would  advise  me  to  do  ? 

In  response  to  this  he  said  with  considerable  warmth  of  manner  that  he  wished 
);  had  a  million  of  dollars,  and  that  if  he  had  he  would  mighty  soon  set  all  these 
ratters  straight;  but  that  he  had  no  money  himself  and  that  all  the  clerks  in  his 
Gee  were  “so  damned  poor”  (his  very  words)  that  they  could  not  help  him. 

]  the  bonds  were  replaced  he  said  he  could  arrange  everything  without  any 
buble  ;  and  then  he  proposed  to  me  that  I  should  go  to  my  friends,  and  raise  the 
nney  and  replace  the  bonds.  I  remained  silent  up  to  this  point,  but  when  he 
evanced  this  suggestion,  I  instantly  replied  (and  as  you,  Mr.  Wise,  will  remem - 
|r,  treasurer  Mayo  himself  testified  to  this  fact  when  giving  his  “  evidence  ”  at 
tv  trial)  I  instantly  replied  that  I  had  not  taken  the  bonds,  and  I  should  certainly 
it  ask  my  friends  to  replace  them  now. 

As  already  remarked,  during  this  conversation  we  had  arrived  at  the  corner 
D  Seventh  and  Broad  streets,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  conversation  was  held 
aler  a  lamp-post  near  the  theatre  corner.  After  my  last  remark,  as  I  have  just 
'uted  it,  treasurer  Mayo  made  a  motion  as  if  he  would  go  down  Seventh  street 
x'ards  Leigh  (the  direction  of  his  residence)  but  I  proposed  to  him  to  go  into 
*nly’s  liquor  saloon  near  by  and  take  a  “  night  cap  ”  before  going  home.  He 
'narked  that  he  thought  he  had  had  enough  to  drink  already,  but  turned  and 
vit  with  me  into  Manly’s.  There  we  encountered  several  mutual  acquaintances 
V  i  whom  we  exchanged  the  ordinary  salutations,  and  treasurer  Mayo  and  I  each 
Ink  a  drink  of  whiskey.  Coming  out  of  Manly’s  we  started  up  Broad  street, 

»  turned  down  Seventh  towards  Grace,  and  when  we  got  to  the  alley  just  in  rear 
>1  he  theatre,  vve  both  stopped  there  for  a  few  minutes.  At  this  time  1  was  suf- 
£  lg  the  most  intense  agony  of  mind,  and  was  silent.  Treasurer  Mayo  in  a  tone 
r  manner  peculiar  to  him  after  taking  a  fresh  drink  went  on  talking  about  the 
C'se  of  Gov.  Kemper  in  ordering  the  investigation  in  the  way  he  had,  saying 
tnng  other  things  that  he  was  not  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund 
n  had  no  business  to  interfere  in  their  affairs,  and  so  on.  About  this  time,  as  I 
Treat  mental  distress  was  pondering  the  matter  in  my  mind,  it  occurred  to  me 
i  the  complications  about  the  deficit  of  bonds  and  the  “  suspicions  ”  against  me 
3  hich  the  “  rumors  and  reports  ”  stated  by  Gov.  Kemper  might  give  color,  might 
e  ,aps  involve  me  in  some  legal  difficulty,  though  the  idea  of  a  prosecution 'for 

forgery”  was  as  far  from  my  mind  as  earth  is  from  Alcyone.  So,  I  said  to 
x  surer  Mayo  that,  as  he  was  a  lawyer,  I  supposed  I  could  depend  upon  him  to 
e|ad  me  if  any  trouble  came  upon  me  in  consequence  of  these  complications. 
Rvarmly  responded  that  he  would  defend  rhe  in  case  of  any  trouble  and  we 
hi  k  hands  upon  it. 

By  this  time  we  had  returned  to  the  corner  of  the  theatre  on  Broad  street, 
nf  he  now  proposed  that  we  should  go  back  into  Manly’s  saloon  and  get  another 
n:;  which  we  did,  then  came  out,  and  without  anything  being  said  as  to  the 
ir  tion  either  was  going,  we  went  walking  together  up  Broad  street.  We  both 


46 


continued  silent  for  some  time,  as  we  walked  along.  Presently,  out  of  the  agony 
my  thoughts,  I  turned  to  him  and  asked — “Colonel,  do  you  believe  there  is  a 
hell  ?  ”  He  answered,  “  No,  I  don’t.  All  the  hell  there  is,  is  here,  in  this  work 
I  said  “  Then,  I  am  suffering  it  now.” 

[This  remark  as  you  know,  Mr.  Wise,  was  mentioned  by  treasurer  Mayo 
his  “  testimony  ”  at  my  trial ;  but  he  reported  it  in  a  distorted  form  so  as  to  lea 
an  unfavorable  impression  against  me.  When  I  made  the  remark  I  had  no  ic 
of  implying  a  doubt  of  the  existence  of  hell,  but  used  it  to  indicate,  by  comps 
son,  the  intensity  of  distress  in  which  my  mind  was  involved]. 

Soon  after  this,  without  further  remark,  we  arrived  at  the  corner  of  Fou 
and  Broad  streets,  and  he  made  again  as  if  he  would  turn  off  towards  Leigh  stre 
but  we  stopped  at  the  street  corner,  and,  as  we  stood  there,  he  addressed  me  fa 
illiarly  by  mv  Christian  name,  and  asked  me  what  I  intended  to  do  ?  I  cold  h 
I  did  not  know  what  to  do,  but  would  consult  some  of  my  other  friends,  t 
then  again  urged  me  to  go  to  my  friends  and  raise  the  money,  and  replace  ' 
amount  of  bonds  which  were  missing.  He  named  several  of  my  friends  who  h 
money,  and  he  said  he  knew  they  would  let  me  have  it.  He  urged  it  upon 
that  if  I  could  get  the  bonds  replaced,  he  would  arrange  the  whole  mattei 
that  there  should  be  no  further  trouble.  And  again  I  told  him  that  I  would 
no  such  thing ;  that  I  certainly  had  not  taken  the  bonds,  and  I  was  not  going 
do  anything  which  would  look  like  admitting  that  I  had. 

After  this,  he  said  nothing  more,  for  about  a  minute,  then  started  to  le; 
me,  but  turned  and  asked  me  where  I  was  going  ?  I  said,  I  thought  of  go 
over  to  the  club-house,  and  invited  him  to  go  too.  He  assented,  and  we  ] 
ceeded  on  up  Broad  street  to  Third,  then  turned  down  Third  to  go  to  the  cl 
house,  (which  is  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Franklin)  both  remaining  silent 
we  walked  along.  J  ust  as  we  reached  Grace  street,  as  we  passed  along  Thin 
told  him  that  there  was  one  thing  on  my  mind  which  made  the  difficulties  wh 
beset  me  more  distressing  than  everything  else  combined  ;  but  that  I  would  c 
tell  him  what  it  was  as  a  masonic  secret.  He  promised  to  receive  it  so,  ai: 
then  told  him  of  it.  This  circumstance,  I  told  him,  made  my  now  expected 
moval  from  office,  and  the  complications  by  which  I  was  thus  beset  infini 
painful  to  me — far  more  than  anything  else — because  of  the  distress  it  wc 
bring  upon  another.  In  reply  to  this,  he  sighed,  and  said  that  was 
near  so  bad  as  the  case  was  with  him,  for  he  was  already  married,  and  had  a 
and  three  little  children  dependent  upon  him.  The  mournful  manner  in  w 
he  said  this  excited  my  deepest  sympathy  at  the  time.  It*remained  in  my  m 
ory,  with  terrible  distinctness,  and  afterwards  inspired  an  attempt  (to  be  prese 
related),  for  which  I  shall  be  penitent  as  long  as  I  live.  We  were  both  silent  j 
this,  until  we  reached  the  club-house. 

On  reaching  the  club-house,  we  remained  a  few  minutes  in  the  hall,  but  treas 
Mayo  appeared  unwilling  to  show  himself  in  the  club  parlours.  I  then  left 
in  the  entrance-hall,  and  went  first  into  the  front-parlour,  but  finding  no  one  tl 
I  went  into  the  back-parlour  where  I  found  several  gentlemen,  members  of 
club,  sitting  together.  With  them  I  exchanged  the  ordinary  polite  salutati 
and  passed  a  few  commonplace  remarks.  Then  1  returned  to  the  entrance-! 
where  I  found  treasurer  Mayo  sauntering  about  like  one  in  a  stupor.  As  1 
proached  him,  he  proposed  that  we  should  go  and  get  a  drink,  and  I  assen 
We  went  into  the  wine-room  of  the  club,  and  each  took  a  drink.  We  then  i 
to  the  door  of  the  billiard-room,  and  he  stopped  at  the  door  and  looked  in 
door  being  ajar.  There  were  about  a  dozen  gentlemen  in  the  room  playing 
liards.  I  proposed  to  him  to  go  in,  but  he  declined.  During  this  time  no 

i 


47 


'ersation  took  place  between  us,  except  an  occasional  remark  in  relation  to  the 
hings  immediately  before  us. 

Retiring  from  the  door  of  the  billiard  room,  treasurer  Mayo  said  he  was 
oing  home.  I  told  him  I  believed  I  would  remain  and  pass  the  evening  at  the 
lub-house.  I  went  with  him  to  the  front -door  of  the  club-house  where  we  parted  ; 
saying  to  him,  at  parting,  in  a  playful  form  of  slangous  speech  :  “  Well,  if  I 

on’t  see  you  again,  I’ll  tell  you  good  bye  now.” 

[You,  Mr.  Wise,  will  remember  how  this  playful  remark  was  tortured  by 
easurer  Mayo  in  his  ‘testimony  at  my  trial,  so  as  to  seriously  affect  opinion 
gainst  me.  But  at  the  moment  of  making  it  I  did’n’t  dream  that  my  words  could 
e  twisted  and  turned  into  anything  else  than  their  usual  significance,  or  rather 
[[Significance]. 

As  he  started  away,  I  turned  to  go  back  into  the  club-house,  but  on  a  sudden 
;tought  I  returned  to  the  front-door  and  called  him.  He  stopped  and  I  went  out 
lid  joined  him  on  the  side-walk,  and  then  told  him  very  seriouslv  that  it  had  oc- 
lfred  to  me  that  there  might  really  arise,  in  consequence  of  the  complications 
suiting  from  the  investigation,  some  occasion  for  me  to  consult  legal 
unsel,  and  I  wanted  to  know  from  him  whether,  in  such  an  event,  I 
"uld  certainly  depend  upon  him  for  professional  services.  He  again 
irmly  assured  me  that  I  could,  and  extended  his  hand  upon  it.  We  then 
jutually  turned  to  separate  and  as  he  was  walking  off  I  turned  back  and  said  to 
i  n  that  I  was  afraid  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  might  have  trouble 
* ou?-  matter  also  (for  I  believed  that,  now,  the  manner  in  which  the  affairs  of 
P  sinking  fund  had  been  conducted  would  be  made  public  and  would  occasion 
Irsh  criticism),  and  I  should  be  very  sorry  for  it,  especially  on  his  account  and 
Editor  Rogers’s;  for  I  looked  upon  him  as  a  friend,  and  auditor  Rogers  had 
[’need  great  friendship  for  me  that  morning — as  I  thought  He  made  no  response 
t  this  whatever,  but  walked  on,  going  home,  as  I  supposed,  and  I  returned  to  the 
l  :b-house. 

On  leturning  to  the  club-house,  in  the  entry-hall,  (or  rather  between  the  side- 
Ldr  oi  the  hall  and  the  billiard-room,  where  I  started  to  go)  I  met  a  gentleman 
l  r-  H~7re^  to  whom  1  owed  six  dollars.  I  mentioned  the  matter  to  him  and, 
r  iding  him  a  $20  note  (all  the  money  I  then  had),  requested  him  to  take  the 
L  dollai;s  out  of  it.  While  he  was  making  change,  I  was  told  that  certain  gen- 
tinen  who  were  then  my  frequent  associates  were  playing  cards  up-stairs  in  the 
Id-room ;  and  as  soon  as  I  got  my  change  I  went  directly  to  the  card-room, 
jere  l, found  the  gentlemen  indicated,  engaged  in  a  social  game  of  cards  called 
:  itch  and  I  joined  them  in  the  game.  We  continued  to  play  until  near  mid- 
1  ht,  nothing  unusual  occurring  during  the  time,  except  that  I  drank  much  more 
1  n  1  was  m  the  habit  of  drinking.  About  midnight  the  party  broke  up  and 
Ksral  of  the  gentlemen,  en  route  to  their  respective  homes,  walked  down  Frank- 
t  street  along  with  me  to  the  corner  of  Fifth,  I  also  being  en  route  to  my 
PInfs-  At  the  corner  of  Fifth  we  separated,  but  two  of  the  gentlemen 

I'j.  M  o  and  Mr.  W.  M.  McC - y)  who  were  then  friends  of  mine 

diking  me  too  much  intoxicated  to  reach  my  room  alone,  kindly  accompanied 
|  thither.  After  reaching  my  room  they  remained  until  I  had  disrobed  and 
f* 3  left  me,  and  I  went  to  bed  at  once  and  slept  soundly  until  next  morning.  A 

after  six  o’clock  next  morning  I  awoke  and  found  myself  in  that  condition 
W  nnd  and  body  which  most  men  experience  who  have  ever  been  foolish  enough 
0  rink  too  much.  On  awakening  the  distress  in  which  Y  was  involved  came 
r<  l  to  my  recollection  and  I  suffered  the  most  ineffable  anguish  of  spirit.  Even 
i'll?  moment  I  am  looking  back  to  that  hour  with  horror,  and,  to  my  dying  day 
>  all  ne\  er  cease  to  be  horrified  at  the  bare  recollection  of  hQw  on  that,  lovely 


48 


Sabbath  morning,  while  the  grey  dawn  was  brightening  the  eastern  skies,  I  sat 
the  solitude  of  my  own  chamber — with  my  nervous  system  shivering  from  t 
effects  of  an  over-night  debauch,  my  mental  faculties  bewildered  and  wanderir 
and  my  spirits  sunk  to  the  lowest  depths  of  despondency — and  contemplated  t 
mass  of  misery  and  wretchedness  by  which  I  was  overwhelmed.  It  would  ser 
no  good  purpose  now  to  recount  the  thousand  thoughts,  or  rather  vagaries,  whi 
chased  each  other  through  the  anarchy  of  my  mind,  and  the  subject  is  too  im 
pressibly  painful  to  me  to  dwell  upon  it  needlessly.  In  the  vaticinations  of  r 
anguish  the  terrible  apprehensions  of  removal  from  office  and  losing  all  that 
held  dear  in  reputation  and  position,  from  which  I  had  shrunk  in  horror  on  t 
preceding  Friday  night,  now  returned  with  redoubled  force.  Scattered  along  t 
line  of  thought  (if  the  vagaries  of  a  distempered  mind  may  be  called  though 
I  saw,  like  wrecks  upon  the  shore,  all  the  cherished  hopes  and  aspirations  ot  r 
life ;  the  bright,  (though  flattering)  anticipations  of  my  friends  all  blasted  ;  t 
fond  hopes  of  aged  parents  crushed  forever ;  my  life  itself  a  wreck  and  mys 
consigned  to  the  perpetual  goadings  of  cruel  dispair.  To  most  men  amid  su 
misery,  I  suppose,  the  thought  of  suicide  has  presented  itself ;  and  even  so  wa; 
with  me.  I  sat  there,  I  know  not  how  long,  and  pondered  that  problem — sol\ 
indeed  by  Saul  the  first  king  of  Israel  with  the  point  of  his  own  sword,  but  aft 
wards  renewed  to  puzzle  the  philosophy  of  Plato  and  to  inspire  the  genius 
Shakspeare  in  the  creation  of  Hamlet : — 

“  Whether  ’tis  nobler  in  the  mind  to  suffer 

The  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune  ; 

Or  to  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles, 

And,  by  opposing,  end  them  ?  ” 

But  yet  a  better  genius,  battling  in  my  heart,  whispered  words  of  hope.  E’ 
amid  the  ruin  of  my  life,  it  said,  a  consciousness  of  my  own  rectitude  would  s 
tain  me  ;  and  then  courage  came  back  for  the  moment  denouncing  as  cowar 
the  idea  of  seeking  an  asylum  in  the  grave,  and  strengthening  my  heart’s  ne 
to  meet  and  battle  against  adversity. 

Turning  these  vagaries  over  in  my  mind,  the  courage  to  meet  my  difficul 
manfully,  as  well  as  “  the  dread  of  something  after  death  ”  had  probably 
strained  me  from  the  rash  act  I  afterwards  attempted,  as  told  in  the  sequel, 
not  another  influence  urged  me  on.  For  presently  these  vagaries  assumed 
other  phase.  I  knew  that  now  the  “  investigation  ”  ordered  by  Gov.  Kemj 
would  be  made  public,  and  involve  everybody  connected  with  the  sinking  f 
in  scandal  and  aspersions,  and  the  thought  presented  itsell  to  my  distempe 
fancy. 

“  How  I  might  stop  this  tempest  ere  it  came.” 

And,  in  connection  with  this  reflection,  there  came  the  remembrance  oi 
intimate  Iriendship  which  existed  between  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself,  and  warr 
my  heart  with  regard  for  “  Old  Joe,”  as  we  called  him  with  affectionate  famil 
ity.  And  to  the  sickbed  fancies  of  my  distracted  heart,  it  seemed  to  me  t 
that  so  poor  and  desolate  a  thing,  as  my  anguish  painted  my  own  life,  was 
much  to  give  up  for  the  relief  of  a  friend.  In  that  hour  of  anguish,  it  seemec 
me  also,  so  distorted  was  my  judgment,  that  it  would  be  best  even  for  those  n 
dear  to  me  that  I  should  end  these  troubles  at  once.  Then  memory  brought  h 
to  my  mind  the  mournful  words  of  treasurer  Mayo  to  me,  the  night  before,  sou 
ing  to  my  fevered  fancy  with  pathetic  suppliance  ;  “  A  wife  and  three  l 

children."  And  from  that  moment  my  resolution  was  taken. 

I  then  considered  (as  well  as  I  could  in  the  almost  frantic  condition  of 
mind),  the  various  methods  of  self-destruction.  The  fate  of  a  friend  of  mind 
distinguished  gentleman  of  New  York — who  died  suddenly  at  the  Astor  H( 


49 


that  city  in  1868  from  an  overdose  of  chloroform,  arose  in  my  memory.  For 
veral  reasons  (if  any  vagary  then  may  be  called  a  reason),  I  selected  that 
ethod.  Then  I  closed  my  mind  to  all  further  reflection,  and  hastened  forth - 
ith  to  Mr.  Blair  s  drug  store,  on  Broad  street,  to  procure  the  desired  drug.  At 
at  early  hour  the  drug  store  was  not  open,  but  a  young  man  whose  name  I 
d  not  know,  apparently  just  out  of  bed,  admitted  me.  From  him  I  obtained 
ur  ounces  of  chloroform.  I  had  never  been  under  the  influence  of  chloroform, 
d  supposed  that  quantity  would  be  sufficient  for  my  purpose.  Returning  at 
ice  to  my  room,  keeping  off  every  thought  of  reflection  with  a  desperation  of 
irpose  which  can  only  be  described  as  insane,  I  undressed  with  haste,  hastily 
turated  a  towel  with  the  chloroform,  threw  myself  upon  my  bed,  and  applied 
e  towel  to  my  mouth  and  nostrils. 

In  a  few  moments  I  became  anaesthetized,  and  remained  wholly  unconscious 
lW  long,  I  do  not  know,  for  I  know  nothing  further  that  occurred  that  entire 
y.  About  1 1  o’clock  that  night  I  awoke  to  a  sort  of  dim  half-consciousness  of 
ing  in  some  horrible  situation,  the  nature  of  which  I  could  not  for  some  time 
in  my  mind.  Gradually,  with  returning  consciousness,  came  back  the  shadowy 
dines  of  my  situation,  and  I  remembered  my  desperate  purpose,  and  the  mo- 
es  by  which  I  had  persuaded  myself  to  attempt  it.  Physically  I  felt  no  sense 
pain,  or  even  of  uneasiness,  and  in  the  extreme  tensity  of  my  nervous  system, 
nger  and  thirst  were  unthought  of.  As  consciousness  returned,  the  recollection 
my  purpose  took  possession  of  my  mind,  and  I  had  no  wish,  but  a  frantic  de- 
;  to  finish  the  execution  of  that  purpose  as  speedily  as  possible.  No  other 
■ught  lingered  for  even  a  moment  in  my  mind,  for  I  repelled  everything  like 
ection  with  insane  energy.  The  chloroform  vial  I  found  was  empty.  Hastily 
ting  on  my  clothes  I  almost  ran  back  to  Mr.  Blair’s  drug-store  and  again  pro- 
ed  the  same  vial  full  of  chloroform.  With  this  I  again  "hastily  returned  to  my 
m,  hastily  undressed,  and  again  saturated  the  towel  with  the  chloroform,  threw 
self  upon  my  bed,  and  again  applied  it  as  before.  Very  soon  I  was  again  un- 
scious,  and  remained  so  until_next  morning  (Monday),  about  sunrise  ;  recover- 

I  my  consciousness  then  with  a  like  experience  as  of  the  night  before,  that  is, 

!  emembering  my  fixed  purpose  of  self  destruction,  and  the  motives  which  led 
[to it;  though  now  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  horrible  ideas  of  the  distressing 
lumstances  of  my  situation  had  begun  to  fade  away  from  my  mind,  and  appear 
ler  like  the  hazy  phantoms  of  almost  forgotten  fears.  I  again  put  on  my 
joes  and  ^went  again  to  Mr.  Blair  s  drug-store,  and  got  the  vial  again  refilled 
i  chloroform.  With  it  I  again  returned  to  my  room,  and  proceeded  as  on 
ltwo  former  occasions.  Almost  immediately  it  seemed  to  me  I  became  whol- 

nconscious,  and  remained  so  during  that  whole  day.  If  at  any  time  during 
1,  day  Sunday,  or  Sunday  night,  or  during  the  day  Monday,  any  person  entered 
it  room  I  had  no  knowledge  of  it.  I  neither  ate  nor  drank  anything  whatever 
id  these  thirty-six  hours,  and  I  have  no  recollection  of  seeing  or  speaking  to 
idiuman  creature,  except  the  young  gentleman  at  the  drug-store,  from  whom 
it  tamed  the  chloroform. 

h.  I  remained  wholly  unconscious  all  that  day  (Monday),  but  that  night,  at  what 
pj  I  do  not  know,  I  was  awakened  by  a  noise  of  some  kind,  I  do  not  know 

II  ,  and  arose  from  my  bed  in  a  less  than  half  conscious  condition,  and  in  some 
@ier,  I  do  not  know  how,  encountered  a  person  who  I  now  know  was  police- 
10  Pat.  Woods,  though  I  do  not  know  it  from  my  own  memory.  My  recollec- 
;  jof  whatever  occurred  then  is  only  a  vague,  indefinite,  and  shadowy  impres- 
0  like  a  sick  man  s  dream  of  a  terrible  tragedy.  Images  and  fancies  were 
big  around  me  indistinctly  and  something  or  somebody  was  whispering  to  me 


50 


something  about  the  carotid  artery.  And  besides  this  weird  impression  I  have 
recollection  whatever  of  that  terrible  hour  of  my  life. 

My  first  return  to  consciousness,  as  I  recollect  it,  was  at  a  late  hour  of  t 
night  when,  awakening  irom  sleep,  as  I  lay  upon  my  bed,  I  saw  the  light  burni 
and  policeman  Woods  sitting  in  my  room.  After  reflection  for  some  time  I  c 
lected  my  powers  of  thought  as  well  as  I  could  and  a  dim  idea  entered  my  mi 
that  policeman  Woods  was  there  to  arrest  me.  I  iurther  reflected  in  silence 
some  minutes  longer  (if  my  feeble  efforts  to  think  may  be  called  reflection)  a 
then  I  spoke  to  policeman  Woods,  and  asked  him  to  let  me  see  his  warrant ; 
out  of  my  dim  ideas  the  first  tangible  thought  I  was  able  to  gather  related 
making  my  legal  defence.  In  reply  he  assured  me  in  a  kindly  tone  that  “  th 
was  no  warrant.”  In  the  feeble  condition  of  my  mental  powers  then  I  could  : 
possibly  pursue  any  connected  line  of  thought,  and  the  subject  passed  out  of  i 
mind  for  the  moment.  After  a  pause  of  a  few  minutes  longer,  during  which  I  1 
an  indistinct  remembrance  of  unrecognized  forms  and  faces  having  been  flitting  ab> 
me,  I  enquired  of  policeman  Woods,  who  had  been  there  ?  He  replied  that  a  gr 
many  of  my  friends  had  been  to  see  me,  but  named  no  one.  Then  after  anot 
pause  I  asked  him  if  treasurer  Mayo  had  been  there  ?  for  as  my  mind  bet 
to  re-assert  its  power  I  thought  that  treasurer  Mayo,  of  all  my  friends,  would^ 
among  the  first  to  see  me  in  sickness  or  trouble.  Policeman  Woods  told  me  1 
that  treasurer  Mayo  had  not  been  there.  No  more  was  said  by  either  of  us  t 
presently  I  fell  asleep  again. 

I  have  now  related  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  everything  which,  for  the  lack  of  m 
accurate  terminology,  may  be  called  the  res  gestae  of  the  case,  and  if  it  wa 
question  for  the  original  consideration  of  an  enlightened  and  impartial  public  I  wo 
rest  it  here.  But  the  case  has  been  tried  in  a  court  of  law  ;  witnesses  for 
prosecution,  but  none  for  the  defence,  have  been  examined  ;  a  judge  has  delive 
his  instructions  to  the  jury  ;  that  jury  has  returned  an  adverse  verdict ;  an  apf 
has  been  taken  to  a  higher  court ;  that  appellate  tribunal  has  affirmed  the  ju 
ment  of  the  lower  court ;  executive  clemency  has  been  invoked  in  vain,  r 
now,  in  appealing  to  the  still  higher  tribunal  of  public  opinion,  as  my  last  res 
it  will  be  required  that  I  adduce  reasons  and  evidence  in  order  to  obtain  the 
sired  reversal  of  the  judgment  once  pronounced.  That  is  what  I  purpose  to 
now.  But  at  this  point  I  may  be  allowed  to  remark  upon  the  greater  diffici 
there  is  in  proving  a  negative  to  a  proposition  once  lawfully  affirmed  than  ther 
in  refuting  an  accusation  when  first  preferred.  It  is  very  much  more  difficult 
me  to  convince  the  public  that  I  never  committed  the  crime  of  which  I  was  c 
victed  than  it  would  have  been,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  to  convince  the  j 
who  tried  my  case  that  I  was  not  guilty.  Yet  that  is  what  I  now  propose  to 

If,  indeed,  it  were  now  practicable  to  re-empanel  the  same  jury  who  tried 
case  and  submit  it  to  them  de  novo ,  I  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  abide  by  t 
verdict,  with  the  sole  stipulation  that  they  should  be  made  cognizant  of  and  she 
consider  the  truth ,  the  whole  truth ,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  I  believe  that  j 
was  a  fair  one,  though  I  never  knew  but  four  of  them  personally,  and  non 
them  intimately;  but  I  shall  show  herein  that  with  all  their  fairness,  and  with 
any  fault  of  theirs,  they  formed  a  verdict  which  was  cruelly  unjust  in  itself 
flagrantly  grievous  in  its  consequences.  And  this  will  appear  from  the  facts  | 
circumstances  of  my  summary  arraignment,  precipitate  trial  without  adeqti 
opportunity  to  prepare  for  defence,  and  consequent  false  conviction,  as  I  shall  \ 
relate  the  same. 

The  next  morning  after  my  arrest — that  is  to  say,  Tuesday  morning  Febrtj 
ioth,  1874,  I  was  too  ill  in  body  to  leave  my  bed.  Dr.  Coakley  came  to  se^ 
professionally  and  I  was  apprised  that  he  had  been  hastily  called  in  to  attendi 


51 


e  previous  night.  For  several  days,  (until  the  following  Sunday,  I  think)  I 
'.ntmued  ill  and  remained  under  Dr.  Coakley’s  medical  treatment.  During  all 
is  time  I  was  kept  in  custody  by  policemen  who  relieved  each  other  periodically 
guards  in  my  room  ;  an  occasional  visitor  being  permitted  to  see  me  in  their 
esence.  I  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  newspapers  of  the  day  and  was  kept  in 
ter  igorance  ot  whatever  was  published  in  regard  to  me  or  my  affairs.  I  know 
at  public  opinion  in  regard  .to  my  case  was  formed  from  the  statements  then 
ide  in  the  newspapers,  which,  as  I  have  said,  I  was  not  even  permitted  to  see. 
hat  accounts  were  published  I  have  never  been  able,  even  to  this  day,  to  see ; 
d  I  can  only  surmise  their  character  from  certain  testimony  of  one  of  the  report- 
^  for  the  Dispatch ,  who  prepared  the  report  for  that  journal.  Upon  the  occasion 
the  hearing  of  a  motion  in  my  behalf  for  a  new  trial  on  the  grounds  of  treasurer 
ayo  s  insanity,  Mr.  W.  D.  Chesterman,  a  reporter  for  the  Dispatch ,  was  examin- 
as  a  witness  for  the  prosecution  and  he  deposed  as  follows : 


I  had  a  conversation  with  Col.  Mayo  On  the  night  of  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Coleman  about 
3  weeks  before  the  examination  at  the  police  court.  I  made  full  notes  of  what  he  said  He 
re  me  a  complete  history  of  the  sinking  fund  matters,  and  a  clear  and  connected  narrative  of 
i  don  t  think  I  can  give  his  words  about  the  erasure,  but  I  can  give  the  idea.  He  said  that 
and  Coleman  were  going  to  the  club-house;  he  told  Coleman  the  result  of  the  investigation 
de  by  the  board  that  day,  and  the  discovery  of  the  altered  entry.  After  telling  Coleman 
mt  this,  much  to  his  surprise,  Coleman  said  :  “  Colonel,  I  did  it:”  He  said  Coleman  had 

ced  about  this  transaction  in  an  incoherent  way,  and  said  he  knew  it  would  briiw  disgrace 
m  him i ;  but  Coleman  said  one  of  the  greatest  troubles  he  had  was  the  fear  that  it  would  hurt 
yo  and  Rogers.  He  said  that  at  the  club-house,  when  they  were  about  to  part,  Coleman  said 
nad  no  wish  to  survive  his  disgrace.  He  did  not  give  me  any  statement  about  Coleman 
mg  made  any  explanation  of  the  reason  why  he  had  made  the  erasure  ;  and  I  was  much  sur- 
ed  when  I  heard  afterwards  of  his  testifying  to  such  an  explanation.  He  did  not  lead  me  to 
eve  that  Coleman  offered  any  excuse  for  the  erasure.” 


In  the  same  deposition,  Mr.  Chesterman  further  states  that  treasurer  Mayo 
ght  him  several  times,  and  repeated  this  statement  to  him  again  and  again. ' 

Now,  tieasuier  Mayo  is  an  astute  lawyer,  with  a  large  experience  in  the 
vs  of  the  world,  and  Mr.  Chesterman  is  an  expert  reporter.  As  I  have  said  I 
e  not  been  ab]e  to  see  the  '•  reports  ”  which  were  published  at  the  time,  but  it 
as)  enough  to  judge  now  as  to  the  character  and  tone  of  a  “  report  in  full  ” 
^  an  exPert  reporter  from  “  full  notes  ”  of  a  sinister  “  statement  ” 
t  ashed  by  an  astute  lawyer— such  a  statement  as  Mr.  Chesterman  has  sworn 
i  treasurer  Mayo,  not  only  made  to  him,  but  repeatedly  sought  him  for  the  pur- 
-  °f  repeating  to  him.  Bearing  in  mind  that  the  real  facts  in  the  case  were  as  I 
f  hereinbefore  related  them,  I  can  find  no  words  to  characterize  the  fact,  which 
Pw  Patent  to  the  world,  the  fact,  namely,  that  in  the  very  hour  when  I  was 
ji  ’trate  upon  my  bed  in  physical  pain  and  mental  distraction,  treasurer  Mayo  for 
gooses  of  his  own,  was  engaged  with  an  expert  reporter  for  the  most  widely 
j dated  newspaper  in  the  state,  “  cooking  up,”  for  the  public  ear,  a  pretended 
I'tement  whose  atrocity  in  falseness  could  only  be  equalled  by  its  flao-rancy 

Jri?0ne,Tt0  u°  (°,rt£  wit,h  !11S  imprimatur  as  treasurer  of  the  commonwealth 
i'Vhjch  I  should  be  falsely  published  to  the  world  as  a  self-confessed  felon 
1  t  bn,m'.led&e  of  thls  fact>  whlch  I  have  acquired  since,  1  do  not  wonder 
as  I  did  then,  that  when  I  lay  there  in  distress,  prostrate  in  body,  enfeebled 
■  ind,  and  crushed  m  spirit,  nearly  every  friend  I  had  in  the  world  and  every 
k,  my  kindred  and  blood,  save  only  my  aged  parents  and  two  of  my  sisters 
e  t  ley  were  hundreds  of  miles  away),  left  me  to  my  fate,  and  failed  even  to 
«  a  word  of  sympathy  or  of  kindness  1 

But  I  was  not  permitted  then  to  know  anything  about  the  publications  in  the 
a  papers.  I  was  kept  a  close  prisoner,  not  only  debarred  from  resisting  the 
Is  ot  my  enemies  to  rum  me,  but  kept  in  ignorance  even  that  such  efforts 


52 

were  making.  As  you  well  know,  Mr.  Wise,  public  opinion  in  regard  to  sue) 
case  as  mine  is  morally  certain  to  be  formed  and  fixed  by  the  first  send-ofi 
the  newspapers  about  it.  I  will  not  stop  here  to  inveigh  against  the  piactice 
the  daily  press,  which  ever  eager  for  “  sensations,  miscalls  its  moral  sca\engi 
“  enterprising  reporters,”  and  is  never  so  self-complaisant  as  when  able  to  publ 
something  to  please  the  pruriency  of  the  depraved  classes  of  society.  Only  1 
often,  by  such  a  practice,  the  press  inflicts  infinite  injury  upon  the  innocent,  a 
nearly  always  accomplishes  the  ruin  of  its  victim,  but  never  promotes  the  put 
good.  A  hundred  years  ago  Edmund  Burke,  declared  upon  the  floor  of  i 
British  Parliament,  that  the  true  palladium  of  personal  liberty  was  no  longer  i 
right  of  trial  by  jury,  but  the  fearless  voice  of  a  free  press.  Prom  my  own  n 
erable  experience,  I  have  learned  the  bitter  fact,  that  to  a  free  citizen  the  light  oft. 
by  jury  will  avail  but  little,  when  a  false  conviction  has  been  assured  in  advai 
by  means  of  an  atrocious  “  trial  by  newspaper,”  where  everything  is  settled 
favor  of  the  prosecution,  and  no  word  for  the  defence  is  permitted  ! 

It  should  surely  seem,  1  think,  that  the  “  send-off  of  the  case  thus  cook< 
up,”  and  published  in  the  newspapers,  ought  to  have  satisfied  the  most  trucul 
ingenuity  in  its  design  to  deprive  me  of  all  assistance  from  fi  lends,  and  of  e' 
the  sympathy  of  my  own  kindred,  and  to  procure  my  condemnation  by  the  p 
lie  before  my  denial  could  be  heard — without,  indeed,  allowing  me  any  oppoij 
nity  to  deny.  But  it  appears,  in  fact,  that  this  was  not  sufficient.  For,  follow 
up  the  “  cooked-up  ”  accounts  published  in  the  newspapers,  I  have  since  lean 
that  the  thousand  tongues  of  social  scandal  were  also  then  enlisted  in  a  sor 
“  hue  and  cry  ”  against  me.  I  have  since  been  told  that  in  some  of  the  so 
circles,  where  I  had  been  esteemed  as  a  friend,  the  spirit  of  scandal  was  r 
evoked,  and  insidiously  entertained  with  the  wildest  tales  of  my  imputed  ‘irre 
larities”  from  my  boyhood  up,  and  the  most  atrocious  lies  were  circulated  aga 
me  with  “  damnable  iteration  ” — all  intended  by  my  enemies  to  stifle  the  smal 
spark  of  sympathy  for  me  by  making  it  appear  that  the  crime  alleged  agaj 
me  was  but  the  sequel  of  a  life  mis-spent  in  evil  practices.  It  is  needless  no\l 
name  the  many  atrociously  false  “  rumors  and  reports  then  made  up  and  pu 
circulation  against  me,  as  I  have  since  been  told.  You,  Mr.  Wise,  no  doubt,  ht 
some  of  them  at  the  time.  A  close  prisoner  myself  then,  no  word  of  them 
allowed  to  reach  my  ears,  and  now  1  can  only  put  them  from  me  as  belongin 
that  class  of  atrocious  wrongs  for  which  society  affords  its  injured  members 
remedy  on  earth,  and  which,  therefore,  a  gentleman  can  only  “  in  the  hot  cel. 
his  heart  shut  up  ”  I 

One  of  these  “reports”  I  may  name,  however,  because  of  its  direct  effec 
doing  me  a  great  injury  at  a  critical  moment.  This  “report”  was  as  folic 
When  it  became  known  that  Gen.  Bradley  T.  Johnson  was  engaged  for  my 
fence,  it  was  forthwith  "reported”  that  during  that  gentleman’s  absence  in  Eui 
the  preceding  summer  I  had  occupied  his  residence  in  Richmond,  and  had  j 
him  for  it  in  bonds  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund  ;and  that  thatvizs  the  reason  | 
he  was  willing  to  defend  me  now,  when  other  Richmond  lawyers  would  not  d 
This  “  report  ”  was  circulated  in  connection  with  the  statement  that  Mr.  De' 
(now  dead)  had  discovered  that  certain  bonds  known  by  their  serial  numbers  to  1 
belonged  to  the  sinking  fund  had  been  brought  to  the  second  auditor’s  office  b 
agent  for  Gen.  Johnson,  and  converted  into  other  bonds  in  his  name.  It 
afterwards  proven  in  court,  and  also  before  the  legislative  committee  of  invesj 
tion.that  Gen.  Johnson  was  an  innocent  holder  of  the  bonds  in  question,  and| 
in  fact  they  had  been  sold  by  treasurer  Mayo,  and  purchased  by  Messrs,  f’ai 
Campbell  &  Co.  as  agents  for  Gen.  Johnson.  And,  in  fact,  I  had  never  occu| 
Gen.  Johnson’s  house  at  all.  But  the  story  became  a  matter  of  grievous  injui 


53 


ie  by  reason  of  its  frequent  repetitions  and  the  credence  given  to  it.  It  had  the 
fleet  to  deter  even  those  few  of  my  friends  who  were  disposed  to  befriend  me 
0ni'ri?m c  S°’  !-eSt  tbey  t0°  sh°uld  become  the  target  for  the  shafts  of  slander. 
>  Y1^,  brSt  nend  who  came  to  show  me  any  kindness  was  Mr.  S.  Sprigg 

ampbell ;  and  there  never  was  but  one  other  who  came  at  all.  He  came  on 
vednesday,  the  second  day  alter  my  arrest,  and  found  me  ill  in  bed  and  unable 
)  rise.  After  some  general  and  desultory  conversation,  in  which  I  took  but  a 
inguid  part,  f°r  I  was  too  feeble  in  body  and  mind  for  any  sustained  effort,  Mr. 
ampbell  asked  the  policeman,  who  was  then  on  duty  guarding  me  in  my  room, 
)  go  out  into  the  passage-way  for  a  few  minutes,  and  leave  us  to  have  a  little 
rivate  talk.  Mr.  Campbell  seemed  to  have  influence  with  the  policeman,  and  his 
iquest  was  complied  with.  Mr.  Campbell  then  took  a  seat  beside  my  bed  and 
Pfed  the  conversation  in  regard  to  my  case.  I  remember  it  as  well  as  though 
had  happened  but  yesterday,  for  my  mind  was  impressed  and  has  retained 
most  the  very  words  of  the  whole  conversation.  Addressing  me  familiarly  as 
e  was  wont  to  do  m  our  hours  of  social  intimacy,  he  said  :  “William  D.,  if  you  were 
short  of  bonds  why  did’nt  you  let  us  know  ?  We  could  have  fixed  it  up  for 
du  somehow  1  rephed  that  I  had  not  known  anything  about  the  bonds  being 
short  myself,  and  had  been  as  much  surprised  as  anybody  could  have  been  at 
ldmg  t  lat  there  was  a  deficit.  He  then  asked  me  some  questions  in  regard  to 
e  investigation  and  the  conduct  of  Gov.  Kemper  towards  me,  which  I  answered 
accordance  with  the  facts  ;  and  he  then  made  a  remark  to  the  effect  that  public 
ntiment  was  very  much  “  down  on  ”  me,  but  as  I  had  not  seen  the  newspapers 
d  ie,?f  ,n°  re^erence  to  their  accounts,  I  did  not  comprehend  the  extent  of 
e  public  feeling  against  me,  and  made  no  reply.  Presently,  he  asked  me  what 
rangements  I  had  made  about  securing  counsel  to  defend  me  ?  I  replied  that 
rad  not  been  able  yet  to  give  that  subject  any  thought  and  that  1  was  worried 
'W  1  ?,  c°nsidenng  it,  because  I  had  no  money  to  pay  for  professional  assist- 
ce.  Then,  you  are  dead  strapped  ?’’  he  said  enquiringly.  I  told  him  that  I  had 
'  a,s”uchDas  ten  dollars  in  money.  “  Well,”  said  he  “  I’ll  get  Brad.  Johnson 
d  Willie  Royal  for  you,  if  you  are  willing.”  “  But”  said  I  “  how  am  I  going 
f  pay  them  ?  Oh,”  said  he,  “  Brad,  ain’t  going  back  on  the  boys”-meaning 
:  ertain  set  of  young  men,  including  himself  and  me,  who  were  on  terms  of  social 
imacy  with  Gen.  Johnson  and  frequent  visitors  at  his  house.  I  told  him  that  if 
;  could  arrange  it  forme  I  would  be  very  glad  to  have  the  professional  assistance 
.  Gen.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Royall.  He  said  he  would  attend  to  it,  and  about  that 
ie  the  policeman  re-entered  the  room  and  Mr.  Campbell  rose  to  leave  As  he 
f  [eavinf  he  kindly  enquired  if  there  was  anything  which,  as  a  sick  man,  I  would 
sh,  and  with  great  kindness  insisted  that  if  at  any  time  I  desired  any  such 
-ig  that  I  should  let  him  know,  and  that  he  would  procure  and  send  it  to  me. 

^  then  shook  hands  with  me  and  left.  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  from  him 
i.  :e,  except  in  the  court-room  during  my  trial.  I  shall  always  gratefully 

f  h,1Sv kmC  advances  to  me  at  first,  and  in  my  meditations,  since,  have  often 

^  git  that  he  was  deterred  from  further  kindness,  and  even  from  any  communi- 
jon  Wlth  r^e,  by  the  fear  of  the  thousand  tongues  of  social  scandaf  which  had 
V  tl™  °°se  upon  me  and  threatened  every  one  who  approached  me. 

f  W?7Sd3y)’  Ge1n‘  Bradley  T’  J°hnson  came  t0  see  me,  and  informed 
■Glmt  he  had  done  so  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Campbell,  who  told  him  I  desired 
I  ■rm.trnm i  told  the  policeman  guarding  me  m  my  room  that  he  was  my  counsel, 

J  deSired  }°  alone  with  me.  The  policeman  then  withdrew,  and  Gen.  Johnson 
§T  a  seat  beside  my  bed  I  being  too  weak  to  sit  up.  I  was  too  much  enfeebled 
1  mentally  and  physically  to  sustain  any  prolonged  conversation,  or  participate 
T  lmportant  discussion.  But  briefly  and  as  lucidly  as  I  could,  I  answered 


o4 


such  questions  as  he  asked  me.  He  questioned  me  particularly  in  regard  to  wl 
occurred  between  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself  the  preceding  Saturday  night,  a 
I  related  to  him' many  of  the  details  of  that  interview,  just  as  I  have  writteu  th< 
out  in  this  letter  to  you,  Mr.  Wise.  He  made  a  remark,  as  I  afterwards  reme 
bered,  to  the  effect  that  what  I  told  him  was  very  different  from  the  accou 
published  in  the  newspapers  ;  but  as  I  had  not  been  permitted  to  see  the  ne\ 
papers,  and  had  not  the  remotest  suspicion  of  the  immensity  of  the  misrepres< 
tations  which  had  been  made,  1  failed  to  understand  the  force  of  Gen.  Johnso 
meaning  and  paid  no  attention  to  his  remark  at  the  moment  Gen.  Johnson  sc 
brought  the  interview  to  a  close,  saying  that  he  was  going  to  see  treasurer  Ma 

I  do  not  believe  it  was  more  than  half  an  hour  from  the  time  he  came  to  i 
room  until  he  left,  and  in  that  brief  space  of  time,  even  if  I  had  been  entirely  wel 
body,  and  as  clear-minded  as  I  am  at  (his  moment,  it  would  have  been  impossi 
for  me  to  relate  the  full  particulars  of  the  facts  so  as  to  impart  a  thorough  co 
prehension  of  the  case.  And  yet  I  never  had.  up  to  the  hour  of  my  trial,  any  ful 
opportunity  to  consult  Gen.  Johnson  or  any  other  lawyer  about  my  case  or 
discuss  the  facts  w  th  him  or  any  other  of  the  gentlemen  who  appeared  in  co 
as  my  counsel.  As  Gen.  Johnson  left  me,  the  policeman  returned  to  my  roi 
and  resumed  his  watch  as  my  custodian. 

The  following  day  (Friday)  Gen  Johnson  again  called  to  see  me  and  foil 
me  still  in  bed  and  unable  to, sit  up.  This  time,  as  before,  the  policeman,  at  G 
Johnson’s  request,  retired  and  left  us  alone;  but  the  interview  was  again  very  sh 
— shorter  than  before — it  being  later  in  the  day  and  Gen.  Johnson  having  anotl 
engagement,  as  he  informed  me,  which  compelled  him  to  hasten.  On  this  occas 
he  did  nearly  all  the  talking  himself.  He  informed  me  that  he  had  been  to 
treasurer,  Mayo,  who  was  then  sick  in  bed  ;  he  informed  me  that  he  found  h 
‘‘perfectly  wild,”  (Gen.  Johnson’s  own  words)  in  his  manner,  and  almost  incoh 
ent  in  his  talk  ;  but  that,  with  great  difficulty,  he  had  gotten  him  to  talk  about ' 
occurrences  of  the  preceding  Saturday  night.  He  said  that  treasurer  Mayo  < 
dared  at  first  that  he  could  recollect  nothing  whatever  about  any  account  I  gi 
him  that  Saturday  night  about  the  erasure  in  the  warrant  book,  except  that  I  t 
him  that  I  did  it.  “  But  ’’  said  Gen.  Johnson  (and  I  well  remember  the  animatioi 
his  manner  at  that  point),  “  I  told  him,  Mayo,  you  mu^t  recollect  it,  for  Colen 
is  very  clear  in  his  account  of  it,  and  it  must  be  so  !  ” 

Gen.  Johnson  told  me  that  after  this  treasurer  Mayo  said,  in  effect,  that 
believed  he  did  have  some  recollection  of  my  explaining  to  him  what  I  had  del 
in  the  matter  of  the  alleged  erasure  in  the  warrant  book,  and  that  he  would  try  d 
fix  it  in  his  mind  more  clearly.  Gen.  Johnson  said  that  treasurer  Mayo  had  tl, 
gone  off  into  some  “  wild  talk”  about  a  supposed  missing  receipt  for  some  ri 
road  bonds,  or  something  of  the  sort,  which  had  no  connection  whatever  with  I 
affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  so  he  (Gen.  Johnson)  had  left  him. 

Gen.  Johnson  also  then  informed  me  that  my  examination  before  the  police  jusi 
had  been  set  for  the  ensuing  Saturday,  but  that  treasurer  Mayo  would  not  be  a 
to  appear  then  as  a  witness,  and  that  the  examination  would  therefore  be  postpoi 
until  the  following  Tuesday.  He  then  advised  me  to  “  make  myself  easy,”  ; 
not  be  worried,  and  to  get  well  as  soon  as  possible.  And  with  that  advice  he 
me. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Royal],  came  to  see  me  next  day  (Saturday).  He  is  Gen.  Johnsc 
law  partner,  and  came  at  the  suggestion  of  that  gentleman  as  I  understood.  I  was 
very  weak,  and  debilitated,  both  in  body  and  in  mind,  but  I  arose  from  bed  to  rec< 
Mr.  Royall,  and  sat  leaning  my  head  on  a  table  to  talk  with  him  ;  though  o 
or  twice  during  the  short  interview  with  him  I  had  to  return  to  my  bed,  anc 
down  a  few  minutes  to  recover  my  exhausted  strength.  At  Mr.  Royall’s  requ 


e  policeman,  then  having  me  in  custody,  left  us  alone,  as  had  been  done,  on  the 
o  pievious  occasions,  when  Gen.  Johnson  had  called.  Mr.  Royall  made  some 
ndly  enquiries  as  to  my  health  and  the  like,  and  then,  as  I  was  too  weak  to  go 
to  any  detailed  statement  of  the  facts  in  my  case,  I  sat  leaning  upon  the  table,, 
d  waited  lor  him  to  question  me  about  anything  concerning  which  he  might 
sh  to  be  informed.  He  asked  me  some  questions,  and  I  answered  them  in 
cordance  with  the  facts,  and  then  Mr.  Royall  told  me  that  there  was  no  case 
any  criminal  prosecution  against  me,  except,  perhaps,  what  might  be  made 
t  of  a  certain  “  confession  ”  as  to  an  erasure  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking 
id,  which  it  was  alleged  that  I  had  made  to  treasurer  iMayo  on  the  preceding 
turday  night.  Again  I  was  at  the  great  disadvantage  of  not  having  seen  the 
aorts  published  in  the  newspapers  about  my  case,  and  did  not  clearly  under- 
ind  Mr.  Royall  s  reference  ;  but  I  told  him  I  had  made  no  such  “  confession  ” 
his  remark  implied,  and  endeavored  to  enlighten  him  as  to  the  facts  connected 
:h  my  interview  with  treasurer  Mayo,  on  tkle  occasion  named  ;  and,  to  that  end, 
letailed  a  number  of  the  incidents  of  that  interview,  showing  that  I  could  not 
ve  made  any  such  “  confession  ”  as  he  seemed  to  think  I  "had.  Afterwards 
'•  Royall  assured  me  that,  in  his  judgment,  there  was  “  no  case,”  whatever,  (as 
■  lawyers  call  it),  against  me,  and  that  I  might  dismiss  all  apprehension  from 
.mind  on  the  subject  at  once.  With  this  assurance  Mr.  Royall  left  me  and  the 
iceman  resumed  his  place  as  my  custodian. 

A.s  I  was  still  too  sick  and  feeble  to  leave  my  ifoonr,  I  was  informed  that  I 
ild  continue  to  remain  there  in  custody  of  the  policemen.  I  heard  nothing 
:her  about  my  examination  before  the  police  justice,  which,  Gen.  Johnson  had 
1  me,  had  been  set  for  that  day  (Saturday),  but  presumed  that  it  had  been 
tponed  on  account  of  the  inability  of  treasurer  Mayo,  from  illness,  to  appear,, 
jen.  Johnson  had  told  me  it  would  be. 

[In  this  connection,  I  desire  to  call  your  attention,  Mr.  Wise,  to  the  fact  that, 
l  afterwards,  on  the  trial  of  the  question  of  treasurer  Mayo’s  insanity,  his  phy- 
[an,  referring  to  treasurer  Mayo’s  illness  at  the  time  Gen.  Johnson  visited 
,  as  I  have  related,  testified  as  follows:  “At  that  lime  I  thought  it 
;  the  result  of  some  error  in  his  habits  of  drinking.  I  looked  upon  it  as  a  case 
flelirium  tremens.  My  mmd  is  now  disabused  of  that  impression.  1  do  not 
r  think  that  it  was,” — implying  that  his  attack  was  not  of  delirium  tremens, 

,  insanity.] 

i  On  Sunday  I  was  somewffiat  better,  and  that  evening  about  twilight  the  police- 
•;  then^  having  me  in  custody,  kindly  proposed  to  w-alk  out  with  me  for  the 
?;fit  of  my  health.  We  walked  a  few  squares  and  then  returned  to  mv 
In. 

,  The  next  day  (Monday),  I  was  still  further  a  little  improved  in  health,  and 
jng  that  day  I  began  to  recover  my  strength  sufficiently  to  be  able  to  give 
I-  consideration  to  my  case  myself.  I  asked  the  policeman,  having  me  in 
i  ge,  to  let  me  see  the  newspapers  of  the  day.  He  told  me  that  he  had  been 
f  cularly  instructed  not  to  let  me  see  the  Richmond  city  papers.  I  then  asked 
|s°me  questions  as  to  what  people  said  about  mv  case,  but  he  replied  that  he 
i;bee_n  cautioned  not  to  tell  me  anything  about  such  things.  And  thus  was  I, 
citizen,  in  a  free  country,  kept  a  close  prisoner,  and  not  even  permitted 
[low  what  atrocious  means  my  enemies  were  employing  to  ruin  me,  and  was 
t  prevented  from  taking  any  measures  to  defend  myself  against  them  ! 

[That  night  (Monday),  the  policeman  keeping  watch  over  me  took  me  out 
rj  walk  again.  I  was  reluctant  to  go,  but  yielded  to  his  persuasion  to  do  so. 
k  the  direction  of  the  walk  to  him,  and  he  took  direction  up  Broad  street. 

:v  ral  times,  as  we  passed  along  that  street,  he  persuaded  me  to  enter  drinking- 


56 


saloons  with  him,  and  drink  intoxicating  liquor.  I  at  first  declined  his  invit 
tions  to  drink,  but  he  insisted,  and  I  was  foolish  enough  to  allow  myself  to 
persuaded ;  and  in  this  way  it  was  not  long  before  I  had  taken  four  or  five  drin 
with  him,  and  began  to  experience  their  natural  effect.  After  walking  far  1 
Broad  street,  the  policeman  turned  southward  with  me,  and  we  went  down 
Franklin  street.  As  we  were  passing  down  Franklin  street  by  Gen.  Johnson’s  re 
dence,  by  permission  of  the  policeman,  who  remained  at  the  door,  I  went  in 
see  Gen.  Johnson.  That  gentleman  received  me  cordially,  and  I  remained  a 
conversed  with  him  for  some  time.  Nothing  of  any  significance  was  said 
either  of  us  in  regard  to  my  case.  As  you,  Mr.  Wise,  will  no  doubt  understar 
I  was  not  in  a  condition  to  discuss  anything  with  him,  either  with  judgment 
sobriety.  While  I  was  still  in  conversation  with  Gen.  Johnson,  (he  being  well  f 
quainted  with  the  policeman  then  having  me  in  custody,)  the  latter  also  came 
and  joined  us  in  our  conversation.  During  the  whole  time  I  spent  at  Gen.  Job 
son’s  house,  nothing  in  regard  to  my  case  was  said,  and  the  conversation  w 
trifling  in  its  character ;  except  one  incident,  perhaps,  which  was  as  follows  :  Duri 
our  walk  the  policeman  had  suggested  to  me  the  idea  of  flight,  and  proposed 
allow  me  to  escape.  I  had  declined  the  proposition,  and  told  him  that  I  woi 
not  entertain  it  for  a  moment.  He  then  urged  it,  telling  me  that  the  train  on  t 
R.  F.  and  P.  Railroad  was  just  about  to  start,  and  that  he  would  “  go  ’round  t 
corner ’’  and  leave  me  to  get  off  if  I  wanted  to  go.  And  now  at  Gen.  Johnsoi 
house,  I  told  him,  in  the  presence  of  this  policeman,  about  his  proposition  to  pi 
mit  me  to  escape ;  and  I  said  to  Gen.  Johnson  that  I  had  declined  to  entertain  t 
idea,  because  as  he  (Gen.  Johnson)  knew,  I  could,  not  afford  not  to  be  tried ; 
knowing  myself  that  1  had  committed  no  crime,  I  did  not  dream  that  a  tr 
could  yesult  otherwise  than  in  acquittal. 

Leaving  Gen.  Johnson's  house  to  return  to  my  boarding-house,  the  policem 
walked  with  me  down  Franklin  street.  When  we  got  in  front  of  the  Richmo 
Club-house,  he  asked  me  if  I  did  not  belong  there?  I  told  him  yes,  I  wa: 
member  of  the  club;  and  then  he  said  he  had  never  been  in  the  cli 
house,  and  asked  me  if  we  could  not  go  in  and  get  a  drink.  In  the  folly  of  i 
half-intoxication,  I  took  him  in  and,  on  my  order,  we  were  supplied  with  drin 
Of  course,  I  would  not  have  entered  the  club-house,  under  the  circumstances,  i 
had  not  been  under  the  influence  of  the  liquor  which  this  policeman  had  p 
suaded  me  to  drink.  Intoxication  is,  indeed,  but  a  shabby  excuse,  and  1  ; 
mortified  to  think  that  I  should  have  to  make  it. 

The  next  morning  (Tuesday)  Gen  Johnson  sent  his  son  to  my  room  to  i 
me  that  treasurer  Mayo  was  still  unable  to  appear  as  a  witness  ;  that  therefore  i 
examination  before  the  police  justice,  which  had  been  fixed  for  that  morning,  wot 
be  again  postponed  ;  and  that  I  need  not  go  to  the  police  court  but  remain  in  i 
room  in  the  custody  of  the  policeman.  A  few  hours  later,  however,  a  policen 
came  with  an  order  to  bring  me  before  the  police  justice  I  went  forthwith  w 
this  policeman  to  the  police  court-room,  and  shortly  after  I  got  there  Gen.  Johns 
and  Mr.  Royall  also  came.  The  police  justice,  without  going  into  the  case  at 
decided  to  postpone  the  examination  until  the  following  Saturday,  because 
treasurer  Mayo’s  inability  to  appear  as  a  witness.  And  thereupon  he  ordered 
committal  to  jail,  without  bail,  and  I  was  at  once  taken  by  the  policeman,  who 
tended  the  police  court,  to  be  conveyed  to  the  city  jail.  I  had  left  my  room  w 
the  expectation  ot  returning  to  it  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  so,  and  had 
made  the  least  preparation  for  incarceration  in  jail.  So,  when  I  started  off"  fr 
the  police  court  in  the  custody  of  this  policeman,  to  be  conveyed  to  jai’ 
requested  lvm  to  accompany  me  by  way  of  my  room  (not  more  than  two  squa 
out  of  the  d.rect  route  to  the  jail),  in  order  to  procure  somethings  which  it  \ 


cessary  for  me  to  have  in  my  imprisonment  in  jail,  including  a  vial  of  medicine 
rich,  under  my  physician’s  order,  I  was  taking  at  intervals  of  every  few  hours. 
)  my  astonishment  this  policeman  gruffly  refused  my  request.  In  all  civilized 
mmunities  it  is  usual  to  accord  such  a  request  to  the  meanest  culprits,  and  when 
was  refused  me  by  this  policeman,  I  was  so  utterly  astounded  that  I  said 
thing  more  to  him,  but  walked  on  in  silence  to  the  city  jail. 

On  reaching  the  jail  I  stated  my  request  to  the  custodian  in  charge,  (Mr. 
anklin)  and  he  told  the  policeman  to  return  with  me  to  my  room  for  the  purpose 
iicated,  and  he  did  so.  After  going  to  my  room  and  getting  the  things  I  needed, 
'eturned  with  the  policeman  to  the  jail.  From  that  hour  I  was  kept  a  close 
isoner  until  my  release  in  October  last.  I  have  often  reflected  since  that  the 
nduct  of  this  policeman  towards  me  was  indicative  of  the  disposition  of  his 
periors  in  authority,  in  their  treatment  of  me. 

My  confinement  in  jail  seriously  retarded  the  recovery  of  my  health.  In  a 
y  or  two  yellow  jaundice  suj^ervened  and  my  complexion  became  as  yellow  as 
emon  and  so  remained  until  after  my  trial. 

On  Saturday,  February  21st,  four  days  after  my  incarceration,  I  was  again 
;en  to  the  police  court  for  examination.  All  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution, 
luding  treasurer  Mayo,  were  in  attendance.  The  commonwealth’s  attorney 
lurseli,  Mr.  Wise)  also  appeared  for  the  prosecution.  I  had  not  seen  nor  heard 
m  Gen.  Johnson  or  Mr.  Koyall  during  my  confinement  in  jail,  but  both  now 
|peared  as  counsel  for  me  before  the  police  justice. 

For  the  first  time  I  was  now  permitted  to  see  the  warrant  on  which  I  had 
:n  arrested.  It  was  as  follows  : 

City  of  Richmond,  to  wit : 

!;  To  all,  or  any  one  of  the  Police  officers  of  the  city  of  Richmond  : 

Whereas,  Jos.  Mayo,  j r. ,  Wm.  t .  Taylor  and  Asa  Rogers,  have  this  day  made  complaint  and 
rmation  on  oath  before  me  Joseph  J.  White,  P.  J.,  of  said  city,  that  on,  or  since,  the  nth 
of  November,  1873,  at  said  city,  William  D.  Coleman  did  unlawfully  and  feloniously  forge 
rtain  entry  upon  a  record  warrant  book,  belonging  to  the  office  of  the  second  auditor  of  the 
e  of  \  irginia,  purporting  to  be  an  entry  of  the  purchase,  by  the  board  of  commissioners  of 
sinking  fund  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  of  coupon  bonds  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  to  the  amount 
iight  thousand,  one  hundred  dollars,  with  intent  to  defraud. 

These  are,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  to  command  you,  forth- 
,  tcuapprehend,  and  bring  before  me,  or  some  other  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  said  city,  the 
'  of  the  said  William  D.  Coleman,  to  answer  the  said  complaint,  and  to  be  further  dealt  with 
rding  to  law. 

And,  moreover,  upon  the  arrest  of  the  said  William  P).  Coleman,  by  virtue  of  this  warrant, 
nmand  you,  in  the  name  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  to  summon  Jos.  Mayo,  jr.,  Wm. 
ay  lor  and  Asa  Rogers,^  to  appear  at  the  Police  Justice’s  Court  as  witnesses  to  testify  in 
If  of  the  commonwealth  against  the  said  William  D.  Coleman,  at  12  o’clock  on  the  10th  day 
ebruary,  1874,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  next  day  following  the  day  of  arrest.  And  have  then 
nere  this  warrant  with  your  return  thereon, 
jiven  under  my  hand  and  seal  this  gth  day  of  February,  1874. 
n  ,.  T,  [Signed]  J.  J.  White,  P.  J.,  [Seal.] 

i  Un  leading;  this  warrant,  I  beg;an  to  comprehend  the  nature  of  the  situation 
H  hich  I  was  placed.  I  now  better  understood  the  meaning  of  what  Gen. 
ill  son  had  only  vaguely  communicated  to  me  touching  the  false  account  treas- 
ri  Mayo  had  given  of  the  conversation  between  himself  and  me,  on  the  Satur- 
night  succeeding  the  commencement  of  the  “  investigation.”  And  the  con- 
Jpn  forced  itself  upon  my  mind,  that  a  cunning  plot  had  been  concocted  to 
l?e  me  with  this  pretended  “  false  entry  ”  in  order  to  make  it  appear  that  I 
awaken  the  bonds  of  the  sinking  fund  which  were  missing.  Still,  I  felt  confi- 
ei  that  this  plot  would  be  frustrated  by  setting  forth  the  real  facts.  Then  and 
ie  ,  therefore,  in  the  police  court,  in  a  whispered  conversation,  I  briefly  reminded 
iei  Johnson,  as  my  counsel,  of  what  I  had  told  him  touching  the  facts  of  the 


58 


conversation  between  treasurer  Mayo  and  myself  that  Saturday  night,  whit 
treasurer  Mayo  had  falsely  represented  as  my  pretended  “  confession.” 

The  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  and  all  the  papers  and  memoranc 
made  and  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  “  investigation  ”  were  produced  in  tl 
police  court ;  and  among  them  was  the  statement,  in  lead  pencil-marks,  which  lit 
been  written  down  by  auditor  Taylor,  on  Thursday  afternoon,  the  first  day  of  tl 
“  investigation,”  showing  the  various  amounts  of  bonds  purchased  for  tnesinku 
fund  as  they  were  severally  called  off  from  the  warrant  book  by  auditor  Roger 
Now,  I  had  had  no  possible  access  to  this  paper  except  on  the  Saturday  mornii 
preceding  my  arrest,  between  the  hours  of  12  o'clock  midnight  and  2  o’clock 
M.,  when,  as  I  have  related,  I  made  the  examination,  discovered  the  erroneol 
entry  and  corrected  it,  but  afterwards  restored  it  to  the  condition  in  which  I  foui| 
it.  And  now,  in  the  police  court,  while  hurriedly  reminding  Gen.  Johnson,  ini 
whisper,  of  what  I  had  really  told  treasurer  Mayo,  I  asked  him  to  get  the  stati 
ment  compiled  by  auditor  Taylor  in  pencil-marks,  from  among  the  papers  ai 
memoranda  produced  ;  and  he  did  so.  And,  then  and  there,  while  this  paper  w 
temporarily  in  Gen.  Johnson’s  hands,  I  pointed  out  to  him  on  the  said  papi 
the  spot  where  the  numeral  “  1  ”  had  been  written  in  pencil-mark  in  front 
the  numeral  ”8”  in  the  entry  “8,100” — corresponding  to  the  entry  in  the  warr? 
book  alleged  to  be  “  forged,” — and  had  afterwards  been  erased,  with  india-rubbt 
precisely  as  I  had  told  him,  and  as  I  have  hereinbefore  related,  that  I  had  do 
it  on  the  Saturday  morning  preceding  my  arrest,  between  the  hours  of  120'clo 
midnight  and  2  o’clock  A.  M.  In  response  to  my  whispered  enquiry  as  to  whet! 
he  understood  what  I  was  indicating,  Gen.  Johnson  nodded  his  head  affirmative 

I  now,  with  all  respect,  put  you,  Mr.  Wise,  upon  the  witness-stand  to  com 
orate  what  I  have  just  related  touching  this  incident  in  the  police  court-roo 
For,  you  have  since  stated  that  you  saw  me  in  the  act  of  pointing  this  out  to  G 
Johnson. 

I  expected  that  this  evidence  would  be  a  material  point  in  my  defen 
because  it  was  evidence  in  the  nature  of  a  physical  fact  going  to  prove  that  tre 
urer  Mayo’s  “  testimony  ”  as  to  my  alleged  “  confession  ”  was  craftily  false  r 
atrociously  untrue.  But  it  was  never  even  alluded  to  by  Gen.  Johnson  or  r 
other  of  my  counsel  in  conducting  my  “  defence.”  I  can  imagine  no  reason  w 
so  important  a  point  for  my  defepce  was  ignored  and  suppressed,  unless  it  was 
cause  of  an  indisposition  to  secure  my  acquittal  by  attacking  treasurer  Man 
veracity.  In  a  deposition  subsequently  made  by  Win.  L.  Royall  Esq.,  on  the  he 
ing  a  motion  in  my  behalf  for  a  new  trial  on  the  grounds  of  treasurer  Mayo’s 
sanity,  Mr.  Royall  admitted  that  he  and  Gen.  Johnson,  were  about  this  time 
quently  in  consultation  with  treasurer  Mayo  about  his  (Mayo’s)  aftairs,  either 
friends  or  professionally  ;  and  in  a  note  to  me  after  my  trial,  Mr.  Royall  infont 
me,  in  effect,  that  the  plan  and  purpose  of  my  counsel  for  my  defence  w 
that  I  should  be  convicted  by  the  jury,  and  then  escape  the  penalty  of  the  1 
by  reason  of  the  favorable  cohstructiop  of  a  statute  by  the  Appellate  Coi 
Such  a  scheme  being  in  the  interest  of  treasurer  Mayo,  rather  than  in  mini 
might,  I  think,  be  fairly  inferred  that  in  conducting,  my  “  defence”  less  zeal 
shown  for  my  vindication,  than  for  the  protection  of  treasurer  Mayo. 

Upon  the  thus  unchallenged  false  testimony  of  treasurer  Mayo,  mainly, 
police  justice  decided  to  send  me  on  to  the  Hustings  Court  for  indictment  by 
grand  jury,  and  1  was  thereupon  forthwith  again  conveyed  to  jail  and  locked 

For  several  weeks  after  my  examination  before  the  police  justice  I  remaii 
in  jail,  for  the  most  part  ill  in  body,  enfeebled,  harassed,  and,  at  times,  alq 
demented.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  sufferings  both  of  body  and  mind,  whi 
then  endured,  for  I  have  already  sufficiently  indicated  the  nature  of  the  grie\ 


59 


justice  I  then  suffered  in  being  harshly  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  bail,  and 
bjected  to  confinement  in  jail,  which  was  not  only  detrimental  to  my  physical 
:alth,  but  also  debarred  me  from  all  opportunity  to  make  the  necessary  prepa- 
tion  for  ray  own  defence,  whilst  I  had  no  friend  to  do  it  for  me. 

On  Friday,  the  27th  of  February,  I  think  it  was,  Gen.  Johnson  came  to  the 
1  to  see  me.  During  this  interview  he  talked  to  me  in  fine  spirits  about  the  re- 
h  of  my  impending  trial  and  gave  me  the  most  confident  assurance  of  my  cer- 
in  acquittal. .  He  made  few,  if  any,  enquiries  of  me,  but  consumed  most  of  the 
ne,  himself,  in  telling  such  things  as  the  following':  He  said  that  you,  Mr.  Wise, 
attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  had  enlisted  a  number  of  the  officers  and  em- 
ayees  in  the  basement  of  the  capitol  to  assist  you  in  ferreting  out  evidence  for 
y  conviction.  That  with  such  assistance  you  had  discovered  from  the  books  in 
e  second  auditor  s  office  and  the  treasury  office,  that  about  a  year  before  my  ar- 
st,  six  registered  bonds  for  $ 10,000  each,  standing  in  the  name  of  the  commis- 
>ners  of  the  sinking  fund,  had,  by  my  direction,  been  converted  into  a  like  amount 
coupon  bonds,  payable  to  bearer  ;  that  one  of  these  said  registered  bonds,  was 
.mbered  No.  1 12,  which  had  been  thus  converted  into  ten  coupon  bonds,  payable 
bearer,  for  $1,000,  each,  bearing  given  serial  numbers.  And  that  t-he  books  of  the 
0  offices  also  showed  that,  some  time  afterwards,  these  same  ten  coupon  bonds, 
sntified  by  their  serial  numbers,  had  been  brought  back  to  the  second  auditor’s 
ice  by  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.  and  converted  into  a  like  amount  of  other 
>nds  to  stana  in  his  (Gen.  Johnson’s)  name.  Now,  as  this  registered  bond  numbered 
3.  112,  which  belonged  to  the  sinking  fund,  represented  just  exactly  the  amount 
10,000)  by  which  the  amount  of  bonds  which  had  been  purchased  for  the  sinking 
id  had  been  reduced  by  the  alleged  alteration  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking 
id,  you,  Mr.  Wise,  was  exceedingly  confident  of  my  certain  conviction  on  the 
idence  of  a  motive  on  my  part,  to  be  thus  adduced.  Gen.  Johnson  added  that  you, 
r.  Wise,  was  highly  elated  at  the  prospect  of  so  brilliant  an  exhibition  of  your 
:uteness. 

I  was  on  the  point  of  telling  him  that  I  knew  nothing  whatever  about  these 
nds  which  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.,  had  converted  into  other  bonds 
his  (Gen.  Johnson  s)  name,  but  before  I  could  do  it,  he,  sinking  his  voice  to 
•  impressive  stage-whisper,  added  :  But  Campbell' s  books  show ,  and  Sprigg 
pipbell  will  testify ,  that  Mayo  sold  these  bonds  to  them ,  and  that  you  had  noth- 
to  do  with  that  transaction.  Upon  these  supposed  “  discoveries,”  he  said  you, 

.  Wise,  was  constructing  your  “  theory”  for  mv  prosecution,  and  he  laughed 
Ftrtily  at  the  thought  of  your  discomfiture,  when  you  should  put  Mr.  Campbell 
the  witness-stand,  as  a  witness  for  the  prosecution,  and  find  that  his  testimony 
(ke  down  the  prosecution.  On  leaving  me,  he-  declared  himself  fully  pre- 
|ed  t°  defend  me  successfully,  and  gave  me  the  most  confident  assurances  of 
■j  acquittal  whenever  I  came  to  be  tried. 

telying  on  these  confident  assurances  I  gave  up  the  management  of  my  de- 
|-e  entirely  into  the  hands  of  Gen.  Johnson,  and  Mr.  Royall.  For  besides 
1  ’2  restrained  of  my  liberty  so  that  I  could  not  act  in  my  own  behalf,  I  was  not 
1  condition,  eithei  bodily  or  mentally,  even  if  had  been  a  lawyer,  to  manage 
I  own  defence.  A  sick  man  must  depend  upon  his  medical  adviser  for 
1  oer  prescriptions  for  the  restoration  of  his  health,  and  a  person,  in  mv  condi- 
j  ^  time,  is  especially  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  that  provision  of  the 
Gtitution  of  the  United  States,  which  provides  that  no  accused  person  shall  be 
tvi  without  having  the  benefit  of  counsel  for  his  defence.  This  beina-  the  situa- 
|°f  affairs  I  endeavored  as  well  as  I  could,  to  possess  my  soul  in  patience, 
^  carefully  followed  the  advice  of  my  physician  who  was  constantly  attending 
1  believing,  that  in  a  few  weeks,  I  should  be  released  from  the  hardships  of 


<»0 


imprisonment,  vindicated  from  the  charges  against  me,  and  restored  to  my  righ 
as  a  citizen. 

But  I  was  doomed  to  a  very  bitter  and  abrupt  awakening  from  this  fancit 
secure  reliance  on  my  counsel.  For,  late  in  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  Mart 
5th,  Mr.  Royall  came  to  the  jail  and,  to  my  utter  astonishment  and  consternatio 
informed  me  that  Gen.  Johnspn  had  sent  him  to  tell  me  that  he  had  determine 
to  retire  from  my  defence.  I  had  not  then  been  informed  of  the  action  of  tl 
grand  jury,  but  by  a  subsequent  comparison  of  dates  I  found  that  Mr.  Royal 
message  from  Gen.  Johnson  was  delivered  to  me  on  the  afternoon  ot  the  san 
day  that  the  grand  jury  met  and.  acted  upon  the  charges  against  me.  It  was  le 
than  four  days,  including  Sunday,  from  the  hour  fixed  by  the  court  for  my  tri; 
Mr.  Royall  informed  me  that  Gen.  Johnson’s  reason  for  retiring  from  my  defen 
was  that  certain  rumors  and  reports  had  been  put  in  circulation  very  injurious 
him,  relating  to  the  ten  coupon  bonds  into  which  registered  bond  No.  112  hi 
been  converted,  the  same  having  been  purchased  for  and  converted  into  oth 
bonds  standing  in  his  (Gen  Johnson’s)  name.  Mr.  Royall  also  informed  met! 
the  citv  was  “  full  of  wild  rumors  and  reports  ”  about  the  transfer  of  the  bonds 
question,  grossly  calumnious  both  of  Gen.  Johnson  and  myself. 

My  opinion  then  was,  and  still  is,  that  the  supposed  “  discoveries  ”  from  t 
books  in  the  second  auditor’s  office  had  been  gossipped  about  as  scandal  and  t 
scandal  propagated  by  my  enemies,  for  the  purpose  of  still  further  inflaming  t 
public  sentiment  against  me,  with  a  view  to  its  effect  at  my  trial.  The  purpe 
was  also  to  implicate  Gen.  Johnson  by  these  slanders,  and  thus  deter  any  o 
else  from  rendering  me  such  assistance  as  he  had  agreed  to  render ;  other  g< 
tlemen  would  be  afraid  to  approach  me,  or  to  have  anything  to  do  with  my  c 
fence,  lest  they  also  should  be  aspersed  and  calumniated  as  Gen.  Johnson  h 
been. 

After  delivering  Gen.  Johnson’s  message,  Mr.  Royall  added  that  he,  ho 
ever,  would  continue  to  act  as  counsel  for  me,  but  only  upon  condition  tha 
should  secure  some  older  and  more  experienced  lawyer  to  take  the  lead  in  my  < 
fence.  He  said,  with  great  modesty,  that  he  was  inexperienced;  that  under  1 
peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  extraordinary  efforts  would  be  made  to  seci 
my  conviction  ;  and  that,  therefore,  he  was  unwilling  to  assume  the  whole  respor 
bility  of  my  defence.  I  thanked  him,  and  told  him  that  in  selecting  other  coun 
to  associate  with  him  I  would  consult  his  preference  and  asked  him  to  tell 
whom  he  would  prefer.  He  named  Hon.  W.  W.  Crump,  Col.  Jno.  B.  You 
or  Col.  Robert  Ould.  I  willingly  assented  to  his  choice,  my  understanding  be 
that  he  meant  that  any  of  these  distinguished  gentlemen  would  be  agreeable 
him  ;  and  that  he  did  not  contemplate  securing  the  services  of  more  than  one 
them.  At  my  request  he  agreed  to  go  at  once  and  ask  Judge  Crump  to  as 
him  in  my  defence,  We  discussed  the  matter  of  my  paying  Judge  Crump  for 
assistance  and  came  to  an  agreement  about  it. 

Mr.  Royall  then  left  me  to  go  and  see  Judge  Crump,  with  the  understand 
that  if  Judge  Crump  would  not  assist  me,  he  would  ask  Col.  Young  to  do  it,  ; 
if  he  refused,  then  Judge  Ould  would  be  asked  to  do  it. 

The  next  day  (Friday)  Mr.  Royall  returned  and  reported  that  his  miss 
had  been  wholly  unsuccessful.  He  said  he  first  went  to  Judge  Crump,  but  t 
gentleman  replied,  in  effect,  that  my  counsel  would  have  to  assail  treasurer  Ma 
and  that  the  relations  between  treasurer  Mayo  and  himself  were  of  such  a  nat 
as  to  make  him  unwilling  to  assail  him  in  my  defence.  Mr.  Royall  further 
formed  me  that  he  had  also  approached  Col.  Young,  but  he  replied  that  he  wc 
not  undertake  my  defence  unless  I  would  pay  him  $1,000  down;  and  this 


61 


oyall  knew  I  could  not  do.  He  said  he  had  not  approached  Judge  Ould  because 
;  thought  it  would  be  unavailing. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Royall  told  me  that,  in  his  opinion,  I  could  not  secure 
mnsel  from  the  Richmond  bar,  because  the  local  public  sentiment  was  very  strong 
gainst  me  ;  and  because  treasurer  Mayo  was  a  popular  member  of  the  Richmond 
ir.  He  then  advised  me  to  try  and  get  counsel  outside  of  the  city  of  Richmond  ; 
id  intimated  that  unless  I  did,  he  also  would  retire  from  my  defence. 

The  effect  of  this  communication  was  terribly  depressing.  It  seemed  from 
lat  Mr.  Royall  said  that  I  had  become  such  an  object  of  opprobium,  that  not 
ly  did  my  {personal  friends  turn  from  me,  but  even  the  lawyers  were  unwilling 
appear  in  my  behalf  professionally.  And  it  also  seemed  that  I  would  have  to 
ntend  against  treasurer  Mayo’s  personal  popularity,  and  his  relations  with  his 
other  lawyers  of  the  Richmond  bar ;  strange  odds,  indeed,  they  were  to  be 
(countered  by  a  citizen  in  a  contest  in  a  court  of  justice  !  And  added  to  this 
had  to  contemplate  the  fact  that  the  influence  of  the  Governor,  and  the  force 
;  public  sentiment  were  inexorably  against  me.  Such  circumstances  were 
rely  formidable  enough  to  crush  a  much  more  powerful  man  than  I  was  ! 

I  expressed  my  readiness  to  make  an  effort  ,  in  accordance  with  Mr.  Roy- 
(s  advice,  to  get  counsel  from  a  distance  ;  and  at  once  wrote  a  letter  to  Maj.  W.  T. 
rtherlin,  .of  Danville,  informing  him  of  the  exigency  in  which  I  stood,  and  en- 
jiating  him,  as  a^  friend,  to  send  counsel  to  my  assistance  from  the  bar  of  my 
live  county.  This  letter  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Royall,  who  examined  and  ap- 
pved  it,  and  took  it  himself  to  have  it  mailed  for  me.  As  he  was  leaving  me  for 
!)  purpose  of  having  it  mailed,  I  wrote  and  handed  him  for  transmission  a  tele- 

I.m  to  Maj.  feutherlin,  informing  him  that  such  a  letter  was  e?i  route  to  him. 
conversation  was  held  between  Mr.  Royall  and  myself  on  this  occasion  in  re- 
d  to  the  facts  in  my  case.  All  that  was  said  had  reference  only  to  securing 
er  counsel  to  assist  him  in  my  defence  ;  and  he  left  me  immediately  after  re¬ 
ding  from  my  hands  the  letter  and  telegram  to  Maj.  Sutherlin. 

!  _  In  this  letter  to  Maj.  Sutherlin,  I  expressly  stated  that  the  difficulty  in  pro¬ 
ping  counsel  from  the  Richmond  bar  to  defend  me,  was  by  reason  of  the  fact 
f  t  my  defence  would  require  my  counsel  to  assail  treasurer  Mayo  ;  meaning 
■  this  testimony,  as  given  at  my  preliminary  examination  before  the  police 
Bice,  was  false,  and  would  have  to  be  impeached.  Mr.  Royall  read  that  letter, 
f  approved  it. 

f  In  consequence  of  the  postal  arrangements  my  letter  could  not  reach  Danville 
|«>re  the  next  (Saturday)  afternoon,  and  it  happened,  unfortunately,  that  Maj. 

merlin  was  absent  from  home  when  it  did  arrive,  so  that  he  did  not  receive 
I  ei  it  or  my  telegram  until  his  return,  which  was  on  Saturday  night,  I  believe, 
i  Sunday  morning  he  wrote  me  a  hurried  note  in  response  which  was  put  into 
Jii  hands  on  Monday  morning  about  9  o’clock.  In  this  note  he  informed  me 
0|  he  had  enclosed  my  letter  to  Col.  T.  S.  Flournoy  requesting  him  to  call,  and 
feme,  and  also  to  ask  Col.  E.  Barksdale  to  do  the  same,  and  if  they  could  not 
Disk  Judge  Marshall  to  do  so.  He  added,  in  conclusion,  as  follows  :  “  I  take  it 
>j  granted  that  if  you  are  not  prepared  with  counsel,  you  will  get  a  continuance 
P  .  car?  get  ready  for  trial.  ’  And  I  considered  this  a  very  reasonable 
|p  ion  for  him  to  entertain,  for  in  that  part  of  Virginia  courts  of  justice  have 
:|  ys  allowed  an  accused  person  at  least  an  opportunity  to  prepare  his  defence. 

1  have  omitted  to  state,  in  its  regular  order  of  time,  that,  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
■(it  a  message  to  Mr.  Royall  to  come  and  see  me,  and  he  did  so.  As  I  had 
:e  d  nothing  from  Maj.  Sutherlin,  I  wanted  to  consult  Mr.  Royall  further  about 
1  imn.g  counsel  to  assist  him  in  my  defence.  In  the  course  of  this  conference, 
tne  time,  Mr.  Royall  mentioned  that  Charles  L.  Mosby,  Esq.,  of  Lynchburg’ 


62 


happened  then  to  be  in  Bichmond,  and  proposed  to  try  and  secure  his  assistan 
To  this  I  very  gladly  agreed,  but  Mr.  Royall  changed  his  mind  and  said  that, 
certain  reasons  (which  he  did  not  tell  me),  he  would  rather  not  ask  Mr.  Mosby 

In  this  interview  with  Mr.  Royall  (the  last  I  ever  held  with  that  gentlem 
until  after  my  trial  was  over)  I  was  painfully  perplexed  by  the  difficulties  of  1 
situation.  There  I  was,  sick  in  body  (I  was  ill  with  yellow  jaundice,  and  my  s. 
was  then,  and  remained  until  some  time  after  my  trial,  as  yellow  as  a  Chinamr 
locked  up  in  jail,  without  a  friend  in  reach  on  whom  I  could  rely ;  and  in  tl 
condition  I  had  to  meet  a  prosecution  instigated  and  backed  up  by  the  goveri 
of  the  commonwealth,  and  other  leading  officers  of  the  state  government ;  pul: 
sentiment  truculently  wrought  up  against  me  by  the  one-sided  versions  of  1 
case  which  had  been  circulated  ;  my  trial  fixed  for  the  next  morning,  and  I  withd 
counsel  and  with  no  preparation  for  defence  !  It  was  enough,  I  think,-  to  fill 
with  dismay. 

In  the  course  of  this  interview  with  Mr.  Royall,  having  despaired  of  a 
response  to  my  letter  to  Major  Sutherlin,  I  thought  of  Judge  Marshall,  who  b 
formerly  expressed  a  warm  personal  friendship  for  me,  and  at  my  request  Pj 
Royall  went  to  find  him  for  me.  Shortly  after  sunset  that  evening  Judge  Marsll 
came,  in  response  to  my  request  through  Mr.  Royall.  I  informed  him  of  i 
situation  and  asked  him  to  undertake  my  defence.  He  expressed  a  willingness) 
do  so,  but  said  he  had  been  retained  in  an  important  civil  suit  in  Judge  Welfor 
court  which  was  fixed  for  hearing  at  the  same  hour  as  my  trial  in  the  hustii 
court,  and  that  therefore  he  could  not  appear  for  me  unless  the  time  for  my  t 
could  be  changed.  He  promised,  however,  that  if  nothing  better  could  be  done 
attend  at  the  hustings  court  at  the  hour  fixed  for  my  trial  and  endeavor  to  ge 
continuance  for  me,  so  that  I  could  make  arrangements  for  my  defence.  W 
this  understanding  he  left  me  without  any  conversation  whatever  as  to  the  facte 
the  case. 

That  night  (Sunday),  I  passed  in  the  most  wretched  anxiety.  Of  course 
saw  that  I  had  no  earthly  chance,  except  through  a  continuance  of  the  case  until 
next  term  of  the  court.  But  thinking  that  surely  the  court  would  not  refusi 
continuance,  under  the  circumstances,  I  tried  to  quiet  my  anxieties  with  the 
flection  that  if  I  could  not  get  counsel  to  defend  me,  I  would  make  my  own 
fence  in  person,  in  spite  of  the  disadvantages  of  not  being  a  lawyer,  and  of  be 
in  feeble  health,  harassed  in  mind,  and  locked  up  in  prison.  Had  a  continua: 
been  allowed  me,  and  I  been  permitted  to  defend  myself,  I  would  have  been 
quitted. 

Next  morning  (Monday),  I  received  the  hasty  note  from  Maj.  Sutherlin 
which  I  have  alluded  above,  and,  in  less  than  three  hours  afterwards,  Iwastal 
to  the  court-house  for  trial.  As  yet,  I  had  heard  nothing  from  Col.  Flournoy 
Col.  Barksdale,  and  could  not  even  learn  whether  they  had  reached  the  city. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  here,  that  up  to  the  very  moment  I  entered 
court-room  for  trial,  I  had  been  unable  to  secure  counsel  to  defend  me; 
though  I  had  made  every  effort  in  my  power  to  do  so.  Whilst,  on  the  ot 
hand,  you,  Mr.  Wise,  the  attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  had  had  every  opp 
tunity,  and  had  zealously  prepared  for  prosecution ;  in  which  preparation,  i 
have  since  been  told,  you  had  had  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  “  basem 
officers,”  and  particularly  such  assistance  as  so  astute  a  lawyer  as  treasi 
Mayo  could  render,  prompted  as  he  was  by  personal  interest  to  secure  my  qj 
viction.  To  force  me  to  trial  at  that  term  of  the  court,  under  such  circumstances,! 
a  very  grievous  injustice.  It  was  the  prolific  starting-point  in  a  series! 
wrongs  such  as  no  citizen  ever  before  suffered  at  the  hands  of  judicial  power! 
Virginia ;  and  I  pray  Heaven  none  may  ever  suffer  such  again. 


63 


The  honorable  judge,  by  reason  of  whose  summary  rulings  my  conviction 
s  made  possible,  has  since  been  suddenly  stricken  down  by  death.  Mindful 
the  maxim,  “ De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonuvi ,”  1  would  willingly  omit  all  mention 
him,  could  I  do  so  in  telling  my  story.  But  as  this  is  not  possible,  I  respect- 
ly  submit  that  the  pagan  philosophy  which  inspired ,  the  adage,  and  the 
ristian  benevolence  which  has  adopted  it,  would  both  recommend  justice  to 
:  living  as  no  less  a  sacred  duty  than  charity  to  the  dead.  Besides,  the  maxim 
s,  as  originally  written :  “De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonuvi  ac  verum .” 

I  say,  then,  and  the  sequel  will  show,  that  by  reason  of  the  exercise  de 
reur  of  the  power  of  the  court  against  me,  in  my  utter  helplessness,  I  was 
prived  of  the  essence,  if  not  the  form,  of  a  right  intended  to  be  guaranteed 
the  humblest  citizen  by  the  organic  law  of  the  land.  The  American  Consti- 
ion  (Amendment  vi,)  declares  that :  \  “In  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused 
ill  enjoy  the  right  *  *  *  *  *  *  to  have  the  assistance 

counsel  for  his  defence.”  But  the  court,  in  my  case,  for  his  own  personal  con- 
nience  in  getting  through  the  docket  for  the  term,  though  allowing  me  the 
pearance  of  a  defence  by  counsel  yet,  in  reality,  by  forcing  me  to  trial  without 
hcient  opportunity  to  put  that  counsel  in  possession  of  the  facts  of  the  case, 
prived  me  of  the  benefit  of  such  assistance  as  was  contemplated  by  this  pro¬ 
ion  of  the  constitution. 

In  a  published  letter  in  regard  to  my  case  long  after  my  trial,  the  honorable 
Ige  referred  to  me  as  one  who,  was  his  friend.  The  reference  was  to  relations 
tween  us  which  existed  long  before  his  elevation  to  the  bench  ;  relations  of  a 
ivate  nature  of  which  the  general  public  had  no  knowledge  and  of  which  I 
ve  no  purpose  to  speak  now.  With  no  bitterness  in  my  heart  I  trust  I  may  be 
rmitted  tb  remember  that  it  was  Cleon,  who,  when  elevated  to  public  office, 
lounced  his  friends,  pretending  to  fear  that  their  influence  might  improperly 
ect  his  judgment  in  public  matters;  I  need  not  quote  the  comment  of  Plutarch 
Cleon’s  conduct,  since  the  name  of  Cleon  is  synonymous  with  demagogue  in 
ecian  history.  But  it  was  Aristides,  surnamed  The  Just,  whose  practice  it 
s,  when  Archon  of  Athens,  “  not  endeavoring  to  oblige  his  friends  at  the  ex- 
ase  of  justice,  yet  always  ready  to  do  them  a  service  when  consistent  with  it.”, 
rely,  it  would  not  have  been  “  at  the  expense  of  justice,”  had  I  been  allowed  to 
nain  in  jail  thirty  days  longer,  in  my  helpless  condition,  in  order  that  time  might 
afforded  for  preparing  my  defence*!  And  yet  that  was  the  only  “  service  ”  I 
;ired  at  the  hands  of  my  “  friend,”  the  court. 

I  proceed  now  to  my  case  in  court :  On  entering  the  court-room,  in  the  cus- 
py  of  a  deputy-sergeant,  I  was  met  by  Judge  Marshall,  who  informed  me  that 

Flournoy  and  Col.  Barksdale  had  both  arrived,  and  added  that  he  presumed 
ould  now  get  along  without  his  assistance,  and  so  left  me.  Presently  I  saw 
|L  Flournoy  and  Col.  Barksdale  entering  the  court-room.  They  came  to  me, 
1  told  me  that,  in  compliance  with  Maj.  Sutherlin’s  request,  they  had  come,  in 
!j  at  haste,  to  undertake  my  defence,  but  that  a  previous  engagement  at  Lynch¬ 
ing  would  compel  them  to  leave  Richmond  at  once,  and  they  could  not  appear 
c  me  unless  my  case  should  be  continued  until  the  next  term  of  the  court, 
ffiy  said,  however,  that  of  course  the  court  would  grant  a  continuance  in  view 
>: :he  circumstances.  This  interview  with  Cols.  Flournoy  and  Barksdale,  did 
)  last  as  long  as  five  minutes  ;  it  took  place  in  a  corner  of  the  open  court-room 
v  ch  was  already  partially  crowded  ;  and  I  have  stated  the  entire  substance  of 
1  conversation.  But  that  interview  comprised  everything  whatever  in  the  na- 
W  of  a  consultation ,  or  conference ,  of  any  kind  that  ever  passed  between  than 
k  myself ,  or  either  of  them  and  myself ,  until  my  trial  was  all  over. 

Just  as  this  brief  conversation  between  Cols,  Flournoy  and  Barksdale,  and 


04 


myself  was  closing,  Mr.  Royall  came  up  and  joined  us.  His  modest  opinion 
his  own  abilities  and  his  unwillingness  to  encounter  single-handed  the  fierce  arr 
of  influences  which  had  combined  for  my  prosecution,  had  impelled  him  to  not 
me,  (as  I  have  stated)  that  he  would  not  appear  for  my  defence  unless  I  could  $ 
some  older  lawyer  to  take  the  lead  in  the  case  ;  but  after  the  appearance  of  Cc 
Flournoy  and  Barksdale,  I  took  it  for  granted  that  he  would  assist  them;  thou 
nothing  was  said  on  the  subject.  As  Mr.  Royall  came  up,  however,  before  a 
conversation  took  place,  the  court  was  opened  and  I  took  my  seat  at  the  b 
Mr.  Royall  rose  and  informed  the  court  that  I  was  not  prepared  for  trial  in  cc 
sequence  of  the  difficulties  I  had  encountered  in  securing  counsel  to  defend  n 
He  stated  the  facts  in  regard  to  these  difficulties  pretty  much  as  I  have  hen 
related  them,  though  not  so  explicitly  ;  and  then  he  asked  the  court  to  contir 
the  case  until  the  next  term.  The  court  declined  to  continue  the  case  and  s; 
the  trial  must  go  on.  Mr.  Royall  again  arose  and  pleaded  for  a  continuance 
the  further  ground  that  I  was  still  unprovided  with  counsel,  for,  although  Cc 
Flournoy  and  Barksdale  were  willing  to  appear  for  me,  yet  their  engagements 
another  case  were  such  as  to  compel  them  to  leave  Richmond  at  once,  and  unh 
my  case  was  continued  they,  nor  either  of  them,  could  not  appear  for  my  delen 
The  court,  with  considerable  asperity,  replied,  in  effect,  that  he  (Mr.  Royall)  v 
counsel  enough  for  the  defence  and  the  trial  must  go  on.  Mr.  Royall  arose  ag? 
and  was  proceeding  to  urge  reasons  for  a  continuance,  but  the  court  stopped  h 
and  addressed  him  in  words  to  the  following  effect :  “  Mr.  Royall,  if  I  allow  cai 
to  be  continued  in  this  court,  the  docket  will  soon  become  so  full  that  I  shall  i 
be  able- to  get  through  with  it  from  one  term  to  another.  It  is  a  rule  of  this  co 
not  to  continue  cases,  and  the  trial  must  go  on.”  Mr.  Royall,  howe\n 
continued  to  plead  for  a  continuance,  urging  as  further  reasons  that  wn 
an  immediate  trial  would  be  a  great  hardship  upon  me,  being  forced ! 
it  without  preparation  and  the  assistance  of  counsel,  although  I  had  used  my  bi 
efforts  to  be  prepared,  yet  on  the  other  hand,  a  continuance  of  the  case  until  >i 
next  term  of  the  court  would  be  but  proper  and  would  not  militate  against  pull 
justice,  because  I  would  have  to  remain  in  jail  during  the  interim ,  and  would  I 
suffering  the  hardships  of  imprisonment  during  all  the  thirty  days  of  delay  ask! 
for.  And,  finally,  Mr.  Royall  informed  the  court  that  if  the  trial  must  go  on) 
that  term  of  the  court  he  (Mr.  Royall)  had  nothing  further  to  say  in  the  case  j 
would  retire  from  it  and  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  the  court,  without  any  coud 
for  the  defence  at  all.  Upon  this  the  court  postponed  the  further  consideratl 
of  the  case  until  the  next  morning  (Tuesday)  ;  and  thereupon  I  was  forthwl 
reconveyed  to  jail  and  locked  up,  and  I  neither  saw  nor  heard  anything  from  (I 
Flournoy  or  Col.  Barksdale  or  Mr.  Royall,  until,  as  presently  stated,  I  was  tall 
back  to  the  court-room  next  day  for  trial.  Locked  up  in  jail  it  was  out  of  j 
power  to  communicate  with  them,  and  I  was  left  to  my  own  reflections,  surmil 
and  suppositions  without  any  information  whatever  as  to  their  plans  or  purpoa 
I  did  not  know,  indeed,  whether  to  still  continue  to  consider  them  as  my  court 
or  not. 

Next  morning  (Tuesday),  I  was  again  conveyed  from  the  jail  to  the  coil 
room  for  trial,  and  my  case  being  immediately  called,  upon  my  appearance,  f 
Royall  briefly  renewed  his  appeal  to  the  court  for  a  continuance  and  repeated  j 
declaration  ol  purpose  to  retire  from  my  defence  if  the  court  refused  to  grant# 
continuance.  Col.  Flourney  and  Col.  Barksdale  were  also  present  in  the  I 
and  the  former  followed  Mr.  Royall,  and  pleaded  with  the  court  for  a  contil 
ance.  But  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  efforts  made  to  induce  the  court  to  gfl 
me  the  opportunity  to  get  ready  for  trial.  They  were  all  in  vain.  The  citf 
utterly  refused  to  grant  a  continuance,  but  finally  agreed  to  postpone  cal(( 


e  case  till  a  later  day  in  the  term  ;  and  announced  that  it  would  be  called  on  the 
[lowing  Monday  week — a  delay  of  about  twelve  days.  And  thereupon  I  was 
^ain  re-conveyed  to  jail  and  locked  up. 

On  enquiring  afterwards,  I  learned  that  Cols.  Flournoy  and  Barksdale  both 
ft  the  city  that  same  afternoon.  I  did  not  see  them  anymore.  I  was  locked 
)  in  jail,  and  deprived  of  all  opportunity  to  do  anything  in  my  own  behalf.  The 
creased  anxiety  of  mind  which  these  circumstances  gave  me,  brought  a  re- 
pse  of  the  disease  from  which  I  was  partially  recovering,  and  I  was  again  prostrated 
bed,  from  a  renewed  attack  of  the  jaundice,  and  remained  under  medical  treat- 
ent  in  the  jail.  During  this  time,  I  never  saw  nor  heard  anything  from  Mr.  Royall, 
d  did  not  know  whether  Cols.  Flournoy  and  Barksdale  would  return  to  assist 
my  defence  or  not.  But  I  received  the  following  letter  from  Col.  Flournoy  : 


“  Danville,  March  13,  1874. 

l.  Wm.  D.  Coleman, 

“  Dear  Sir: — I  intended  to  call  and  see  you  before  leaving  Richmond,  but  was  unable  to  do 
I,  however,  had  a  full  conference  with  Mr.  Royall  and  Gen.  Johnson  about  your  case,  and 
satisfied  that  an  earnest  and  vigorous  defence  will  result  in  your  acquittal.  In  your  letter 
VTajor  Sutherlin,  which  he  enclosed  to  me,  you  said  you  would  be  able  to  raise  $200  fee  for 
,  if  I  would  come  and  aid  in  your  defence.  1  am  sure  that  you  can  do  so  among  your  friends 
iRichmond,  and  I  hope  you  will  do  so,  and  have  that  amount  ready  to  pay  me  when  I  come 
:,m  to  your  trial.  The  balance  of  my  fee  I  will  look  to  another  quarter  for,  but  you  must 
;  e  the  above  amount,  as  I  cannot  come  to  Richmond  and,  at  my  own  expense  of  time  and 
:iey,  engage  in  your  defence.  If  you  will  arrange  to  pay  me  $200,  and  your  friend  Major 
iherlin  will  arrange  the  balance  of  my  fee,  I  will  be  down  and  make  the  best  defence  for  you 
n  capable  of,  and  I  think  we  will  procure  your  acquittal.  I  go  on  Monday  to  Lynchburg,  to 
nd  the  U.  S.  Court,  and  shall  be  there  all  the  week.  Write  me  there,  care  of  Norvell  House,  and 
i  whether  you  can  raise  me  the  $200  by  the  day  of  your  trial.  If  you  can,  I  will  certainly  be 
■in.” 


Yours  very  respectfully, 

TIIOS.  S.  FLOURNOY. 


And  this  letter  and  reply,  on  the  subject  of  pacing  counsel’s  fees,  was  the 

i. y  communication  I  ever  had  with  Col.  Flournoy  about  my  case.  And  I  had 
lie  at  all  with  Col.  Barksdale.* 

During  the  interval  of  this  postponement,  I  never  saw  Mr.  Royall  at  all.  I 
ir  locked  up  in  jail,  and  could  not  go  to  him,  and  he  did  not  come  to  me.  Nor 
1  I  have  any  communication  with  him  except  that,  on  Friday,  three  days  before 
n,  trial  was  to  begin,  he  wrote  me  a  note,  making  enquiries  about  a  certain  trans- 
con  of  the  sinking  fund  with  Messrs.  Isaacs,  Taylor  &  Williams,  to  which  I 
e:  him  an  immediate  reply.  And  this  was  the  only  communication  I  had  with 

ii . 

1 

One  day  during  this  interval  Mr.  E.  Carrington  Cabell  visited  the  jail  to  see  a 
>i,oner  who  was  a  client  of  his,  and  while  he  was  there,  this  prisoner  came  to 
n  and  solicited  me  to  ask  Mr.  Cabell  to  assist  in  my  defence.  Mr.  f  abell 
ijnised  to  do  so,  and  accepted  a  small  sum  (all  the  money  I  then  had),  on  ac- 

ote. — *Af ter  my  release  from  prison  and  location  in  Danville,  in  order  to  ascertain  my  pecuniary 
notedness,  with  a  view  to  discharge  it  as  soon  as  possible,  I  addressed  a  note  to  Col.  Flournoy 
Wiring  what  amount  he  had  received  on  my  account,  and  from  whom  ?  He  sent  me  the  following 
t'l  ,  in  which,  however,  he  does  not  include  the  sum  of  $25,  which  I,  myself,  caused  to  be  deposited 
9  |i  credit  in  the  Planters’  National  Bank,  at  Richmond,  and  sent  him  the  certificate  of  deposit : 

fj  „r  “  Danville,  April  6th,  1878. 

C  .  W.  D  Coleman. 

lear  Sir :  -I  received  from  Major  W.  T.  Sutherlin  $150,  in  part  fee  of  $300,  promised  me  as  a  fee 
oijjur  defence  at  your  trial  in  the  hustings  court  at  Richmond,  at  March  term  1874.  No  one  else 
a’ne  anything  on  your  account.  Someone  may  have  aided  Maj.  S  in  making  the  amount  he  paid 
ie;  ut  I  do  not  know  that  anyone  did.  I  think  that  he  expected  some  of  your  friends  to  raise  the 
ce  of  the  $300  pronrsed,  but  no  one  ever  did. 

Very  respectfully,  THOS.  S.  FLOURNOY.” 

'  ith  like  purpose  I  made  s'milar  enquiries  of  Col.  Barksdale,  and  he  informed  me  that  he  had 
iej' received  a  cent  from  any  one.  But  I  have  performed  a  considerable  amount  of  clerical  labor 
3r  m,  in  law  cases,  which  I  have  asked  him  to  accept  on  account  of  his  fee  in  my  case. 


66 


count  of  his  fee ;  but  he  did  not  appear  for  me  at  my  trial,  and  it  is  not  necessi 
to  make  any  further  reference  to  the  matter. 

I  remained  locked  up  in  jail,  and  could  do  nothing  but  wait ;  and  mv  con 
tion  of  body  and  mind  was  such  that  I  was  utterly  incompetent  to  act  judiciou: 
for  myself.  No  friend  was  kind  enough  to  offer  to  assist  me.  Debilitated  in  boc 
and  often  racked  with  pain  and  prostrated  upon  my  bed,  I  was  well-nigh  as  he 
less  as  a  child. 

On  Monday,  March  23rd,  I  was  taken  from  the  jail  to  the  court-room 
trial.  Cols.  Flournoy  and  Barksdale  and  Mr.  Royall  were  present,  but  tb 
neither  sought,  nor  afforded  me,  the  opportunity  to  give  them  any  informati 
about  the  facts  in  the  case  ;  though  they  whispered  to  me,  as  I  sat  there,  repeat 
assurances  of  my  certain  acquittal.  There  were  two  indictments  against  me,  c 
for  the  alleged  larceny  and  embezzlement  of  public  funds,  and  the  other  for  t 
alleged  forgery  of  a  public  record.  Both  of  these  indictments  had  been  pi 
lished  in  extenso  in  the  city  papers,  as  I  afterwards  ascertained,  and  they  wi 
so  worded  that  their  publication  could  not  fail  to  leave  a  most  exaggerated  i 
pression,  and  thereby  further  inflame  the  public  feeling  against  me.  On  readi 
these  indictments,  now,  it  would  be  wholly  unaccountable  to  me  how  any  gra 
jury  in  Virginia  could  have  been  induced  to  return  them  “  true  bills,”  unless  up 
evidence  more  atrociously  false  than  I  had  conceived  to  be  possible  ;  I  saj 
would  be  unaccountable  to  me,  except  that  I  have  since  heard  you,  Mr.  Wi 
admit  that  you  personally  attended  the  deliberations  of  that  grand  jury,  and 
your  zeal  to  secure  my  conviction,  no  doubt  you  used  your  eloquent  persuasic 
to  induce  them  to  do  it.  You  had  their  ears  all  to  yourself  for  the  purposes 
the  prosecution;  and  I,  the  accused,  was  not  permitted  to  be  represented  or  to 
heard  in  that — at  least  the  law  intended  it  to  be — secret  inquisition  of  the  grr 
jury  of  inquest. 

Of  the  two  indictments  against  me,  you,  Mr.  Wise,  selected  that  which  \ 
considered  strongest ;  that  is,  the  one  on  which  you  thought  you  stood  the  t 
chance  to  secure  my  conviction.  I  say  that  you  so  selected,  because  that  would  h; 
been  natural  in  a  prosecuting  attorney  of  your  skill  and  experience,  and  also 
cause  on  a  subsequent  occasion— in  the  Crittenden  trial — you  avowedly  did 
And  had  I  been  acquitted  on  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried,  you  wo 
have  entered  nolle  prosequi  as  to  the  other  indictment  just  as  you  afterwards  1 
in  the  case  mentioned.  At  a  former  page  hereinbefore  (page  3),  I  have  subn 
ted  the  full  text  of  the  indictment  selected  as  strongest,  and  on  which  I  was  tri 
and  I  beg  that  it  be  referred  to  in  this  connection. 

When  arraigned  upon  this  indictment,  and  during  the  whole  period  of 
trial  I  was,  physically  and  mentally,  incapable  to  personally  make  defer 
You  saw  me,  Mr.  Wise,  and  you  know  yourself  that  at  that  time  I  was  yel 
with  jaundice.  Indeed,  it  is  my  belief  that  I  should  have  fallen  at  times  in 
court-room,  during  the  trial,  from  physical  weakness,  but  for  repeated  stimulat 
by  ardent  spirits.  Such  was  my  condition  that,  in  my  opinion,  had  the  ind 
ment  been  for  burning  the  capitol,  or  murdering  the  governor,  I  should  have  b 
convicted  all  the  same,  so  far  as  I  was  personally  capable  of  making  my  defer 

The  whole  matter  of  my  defence  was  therefore  devolved  upon  the  lawv 
who  appeared  as  my  counsel,  but  who,  as  I  have  shown,  were  entirely  ignoi 
of  the  facts  in  the  case.  At  no  time  did  I  interfere  by  enquiry  or  suggestion 
sat  like  one  in  a  dreamy  stupor,  dazed  and  bewildered.  What  the  plans  of 
counsel  were  I  was  at  no  time  informed,  but  the  sequel  showed,  as  I  will  prese> 
prove  that  they  intended  that  I  should  be  convicted  by  the  jury  and  thc7i  perl 
escape  the  penalty  of  the  law  through  a  favorable  construction  of  a  legal  teci 
cality  by  the  appellate  court,  Had  I  known  that  this  was  their  “  plan  ”  I  wd 


67 


;ver  have  consented  to  it ;  for  although  it  might  have  saved  me  from  a  degrad- 
g  imprisonment  it  would  have  left  the  moral  stain  of  guilt  upon  me  as  fully  as  if 
had  pleaded  guilty.  But  you  know  yourself,  Mr.  Wise,  that  the  only  question 
riously  contested  by  my  counsel  was  not  whether  I  had  committed  the  fact 
larged  in  the  indictment,  but  it  was  whether  the  fact  charged  in  the  indictment 
as  an  offence  against  the  law  ;  not  whether  I  had  made  an  erasure  in  the  warrant 
)ok  of  the  sinking  fund  with  intent  to  defraud,  but  only  whether  the  said  warrant 
)ok  was  a  public  record  or  not  ?  And  I  have  since  heard  that  you,  Mr.  Wise, 
ive  expressed  the  opinion,  that  if  I  had  been  properly  defended  I  would  not  have 
en  convicted. 

In  a  published  response  to  certain  enquiries  propounded  by  Gov.  Kemper, 
e  judge  who  presided  at  my  trial  declared  that  I  would  not  have  been  convicted 
n  the  absence  of  Mayo’s  testimony.”  Whatsoever  it  may  have  been  attributa- 
je  to,  the  fact  is  indisputable  that  my  counsel  did  not  pursue  the  line  of  defence 
lich  would  have  secured  my  acquittal  by  exposing  the  atrocious  falsehood  of 
■asurer  Mayo’s  testimony — as  they  should  have  done. 

But  I  have  said  that  I  will  prove  that  their  “  plan  of  defence  ”  was  that  I 
puld  be  convicted  by  the  jury  and  then  perhaps  escape  the  penalty  of  the  law 
cough  a  favorable  construction  of  a  legal  technicality  by  the  appellate  court.  I 
ppose  now  to  prove  this  by  Mr.  Royall,  and  he  so  testifies  in  a  letter  which  he 
;ote  to  me  dated  March  27th,  1874,  being  the  day  after  my  trial  was  concluded. 

I  was  as  follows  : 

“  Dear  Coleman  : — You  must  make  arrangements  at  once  for  paying  for  copying  the  record 
ki  printing  it.  This  will  cost  certainly  $50,  perhaps  $75.  Keep  your  spirits  up  ;  we  anticipa- 
!i  a  verdict  against  you  all  along,  but  we  are  as  confident  of  a  reversal  of  the  judgment  now 
live  ever  were.  I  hear  rumors  that  you  have  been  threatening  in  case  of  conviction  to  impli- 

others.  Let  me  implore  you  to  keep  your  mouth  sealed  with  more  care  now  than  you  have 
:  r  done.  You  can  do  yourself  no  sort  of  good  and  may  do  yourself  incalculable  harm.  At- 
x'l  now  to  this.  Keep  your  mouth  shut.  Yours,  &c., 

WM,  L.  ROYALL.” 

In  point  of  fact,  I  had  made  no  such  “  threat.”  After  the  verdict  of  the  jury 

I I  been  announced  I  had,  indeed,  declared  that  that  verdict  was  formed  upon 
:e  imony  which  was  false.  I  then  did  say  that  treasurer  Mayo  had  testified  false- 
}and  that  auditor  Rogers  had  testified  falsely,  and  that  the  testimony  of  other 
viesses  was  false,  and  that  sooner  or  later  I  would  prove  this  to  the  world. 
B  I  had  said  this  only  to  my  aged  father  and  to  the  jailor  as  he  walked 
vfi  me  from  the  court-room  after  my  trial  was  over,  conveying  me  back  to  jail. 
\  I  I  say  so  now. 

It  is  however  to  Mr.  Royall’s  declaration  that  “we  [z.  e.  my  counsel]  ajitici- 
W’d  a  verdict  against  you  all  along"  that  I  wish  to  direct  attention  particularly 
n  bis  connection.  If  he  had  expressly  said  so,  he  could  hardly  have  testified 
n  -e  clearly  to  the  truth  of  that  part  of  my  assertion  that  their  “plan  of  defence” 
w  that  I  should  be  co?ivicted  by  the  jury;  and  when  he  adds  that  “we  are  as  con¬ 
ic  nt  of  a  reversal  of  the  verdict  now  as  we  ever  were,”  it  is  as  much  as  to  say 
h  in  conducting  my  “defence”  they  had  expected  that,  though  convicted  by  the 
u  ,  I  should  escape  the  penalty  of  the  law  through  a  favorable  construction  of 
1  utute  by  the  appellate  court. 

My  counsel,  it  seems,  were  relying  upon  the  “legal  strategem”  of  showing 
h  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  was  not  a  ipublic  record.  In  their  ar- 
4’ients  before  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  I  presume  they  exhausted  the 
eijfing  of  the  law  books  to  establish  this  point.  It  would  be  out  of  place  and 
’ll-  for  me  to  revamp  their  arguments,  or  to  present  new  ones,  were  I  able  to  do 
•o|  From  the  evidence  before  them  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  have  decided 
hi1  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  is  a  public  record.  But  if  I  prove  that 


68 


the  evidence  before  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  on  which  they  formed  their  si 
opinion  was  false,  I  think  I  shall  thereby  show  that  that  august  tribunal  was  m 
led  and  deceived  as  to  the  matters  of  fact  on  which  they  formed  their  said  op 
ion,  and  that  consequently  that  opinion  is  erroneous.  And  this  is  exactly  wha 
shall  proceed  to  do. 

The  evidence  upon  this  question,  as  submitted  to  the  supreme  court  of  £ 
peals,  is  embraced  in  Judge  Guigon’s  certificate,  from  the  printed  copy  of  whi 
in  the  record  of  the  case,  I  quote  as  follows  : 

“  And  the  said  second  auditor  testified  that  he  kept  the  said  warrant  book  as  a  record  of 
amount  of  bonds  purchased  by  the  sinking  fund,  and  as  a  record  of  the  receipts  and  disbui 
ments  of  his  office  as  to  the  sinking  fund,  as  required  by  §  22  of  chap.  42,  code  of  1873  ;  but 
was  not  directed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  as  a  board,  to  keep  such  book  ; 
it  was  known  to  said  commissioners  that  such  a  book  was  kept  ;  that  said  warrant  book  was. 
to  the  amounts  for  which  warrants  were  drawn,  added  up  regularly  at  the  end  of  each  mor 
and  compared  with  the  amounts  paid  out,  as  shown  by  the  books  of  the  treasurer,  on  account 
the  sinking  fund,  to  ascertain  if  they  tallied,  and  to  make  settlements  with  the  treasurer,  on 
account  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  from  said  warrant  book  there  was  each  year  made  out  by 
second  auditor,  a  statement  of  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  on  hand  in  the  sink 
fund,  from  which  statement  the  second  auditor  and  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fi 
made  out  their  annual  report  to  the  legislature  of  the  amount  of  said  bonds  ;  such  warrant  hi 
being  the  only  official  record  or  memorandum  from  which  such  amount  could  be  ascertainej 

Now,  this  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  purports  to  be  a  full  and  corr 
statement  of  the  character  of  the  warrant  book,  the  authority  by  which  it  v 
kept,  and  the  purposes  for  which,  as  a  record,  it  was  used.  As  such  it  was  certif 
to  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  by  Judge  Guigon  ;  as  such  it  was  duly  recei\ 
and  considered  by  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  ;  and  upon  it  as  testimony  t 
august  tribunal  formed  their  opinion  and  made  up  their  decision  as  to  whether  ' 
said  warrant  book  was  a  public  record  or  not.  Apart  from  its  reference  to  “  § 
of  chap.  42,  code  of  1873,”  as  the  provision  of  law  under  which  the  said  warn 
book  was  kept,  this  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  sets  forth  three  distinct  p 
positions  in  regard  to  the  said  warrant  book  and  asserts  that  the  same  are  ti 
as  matters  of  fact.  Namely,  First :  “  That  said  warrant  book  was,  as  to  1 
amounts  for  which  warrants  were  drawn,  added  up  regularly  at  the  end  of  e£ 
month  and  compared  with  the  amounts  paid  out,  as  shown  by  the  books  of 
treasurer,  on  account  of  the  sinking  fund,  to  ascertain  if  they  tallied,  and  to  ni£ 
settlements  with  the  treasurer  on  the  account  of  the  sinking  fund.’'  Secor 
“  And  from  said  warrant  book  there  was  each  year  made  out  by  the  secc 
auditor  a  statement  of  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  on  hand  in 
sinking  fund,  from  which  statement  the  second  auditor  and  the  commissionen 
the  sinking  fund  made  out  their  annual  report  to  the  legislature  of  the  amount! 
said  bonds.”  And  third,  “  Such  warrant  book  being  the  only  official  record^ 
memorandum  from  which  such  amounts  could  be  ascertained.” 

Upon  these  three  points  the  fate  of  my  case  was  decided  in  the  suprel 
court  of  appeals.  Relying  upon  a  “reversal  of  the  verdict”  by  the  appell 
court,  my  counsel  made  no  real  defence  in  the  nisi  prius  court,  as  to  the  i 
charged  in  the  indictment.  And  upon  the  testimony  as  to  these  three  point: 
fact  the  appellate  court  decided  that  the  said  warrant  book  is  a  public  reco] 
and  thus  the  “  plan  of  defence  ”  attempted  by  my  counsel  was  defeated.  / 
yet  all  three  of  these  propositions,  though  sworn  by  the  second  auditor,  under  I 
solemn  sanctity  of  his  oath,  to  be  matters  of  fact,  were  in  reality  false  ;  and  I  si 
now  proi<e  to  you  that  they  were  false.. 

As  to  the  first :  Please  take  the  warrant  book  itself — the  “  public  recor' 
alleged  to  be  forged — examine  its  pages  and  see  for  yourself  whether  “said  Wl 
rant  book  was,  as  to  the  amounts  for  which  warrants  were  drawn,  added f 


afularly  at  the  end  of  each  month,  and  compared  with  the  amounts  paid  out,  as 
own  by  the  books  of  the  treasurer,  on  account  of  the  sinking  fund,  to  ascertain 
they  tallied,  and  to  make  settlements  with  the  treasurer  on  the  account  of 
e  sinking  fund  ?” 

Unless  the  entries  in  that  book  have  been  tampered  with  since  it  was  before 
e  court  at  my  trial,  and  copied  by  the  clerk  of  the  hustings  court  (for  I  speak 
cording  to  the  certified  copy  of  it  as  printed  in  the  record  of  the  case,  and  my 
m  knowledge  that  that  copy  is  correct),  you  will  find  that  the  first  entry  in  that 
ok  is  of  date,  “  August  2nd,  1871.”  The  interval  between  that  date  and  my  trial 
mprised  a  period  of  nearly  thirty  months.  During  the  first  nine  of  these  thirty 
Dnths,  that  is  to  say,  until  the  1st  of  May,  1872,  comprising  nearly  one-third  of 
e  entire  period,  not  only  was  “  the  said  warrant  book,  as  to  the  amounts  for 
lich  warrants  were  drawn  ”  not  “  added  up  regularly  at  the  end  of  each  month,” 
t,  in  fact,  it  was  not  added  up  at  all ,  during  that  entire  period.  The  first  entry, 
er  the  expiration  of  the  said  nine  months,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  1st  of  May, 
72,  is  as  follows  : 

“  May  1. — To  balance  from  April,  $546.44,” 

But  the  merest  tyro  in  arithmetic  by  adding  up  the  “  amounts  for  which 
rrants  were  drawn  ”  will  discover  that  this  “  balance"  is  a palse  balatice.  The 
1  truth  about  it  is  that  Mr.  Moirison,  the  clerk  who  kept  this  warrant  book,  got 
1,  sinking  fund  account  confused  by  muddling  it  up  with  some  items  of  the  trans¬ 
ions  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works  and  in  order  to  overcome  the  discrepancy, 
reby  created,  between  the  said  warrant  book  and  the  treasurer’s  account,  he 
<  ced  this  balance  and  entered  it  accordingly. 

I  In  the  impartial  judgment  of  an  enlightened  public,  I  am  confident  that  an 
ount  with  which  such  things  as  this  have  been  done  possesses  little  value  as 
public  record.”  And  if  you  will  further  examine  the  pages  of  this  warrant 
jlk,  you  will  find  that,  in  addition  to  the  nine  months  I  have  specified,  there  are 
bast  two  other  months,  as  to  which  this  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  was 
l  Mutely  and  essentially  untruthful.  And  I  think  that  these  physical  facts  con- 
1  ively  prove  that  the  first  proposition  of  the  second  auditor  stated  in  his  testi- 
ny  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  in  reality  false. 

I  am  quite  willing  to  concede  that  it  does  not  really  matter  whether  this  warrant 
fek  was  regularly  added  up,  as  the  second  auditor  swore  that  it  was,  or  not.  But 
c  will  please  observe  that  I  am  proving  the  testimony  of  the  second  auditor 
as  to  minor  points  even  ;  presently  I  will  also  prove  it  false  as  to  the  gravest 
c  its  in  the  matters  of  fact  on  which  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  affirmed  the 
11  ;ment  of  the  nisi prius  court,  and  sent  me  to  prison  for  four  long  and  weary 

Is. 

The  second  proposition  in  his  testimony  stated  by  the  second  auditor  as  a 
1;  er  of  fact  is  as  follows,  to  wit :  “  And  from  said  warrant  book  there  was  each 
e  made  out  by  the  second  auditor  a  statement  of  the  amount  (the  face  value) 
f  le  bonds  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund,  from  which  statement  the  second  auditor 
•tithe  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  made  out  their  annual  report  to  the 
glature  of  the  amount  of  said  bonds.”  This  is  unquestionably  the  real  mate- 
a  mint  in  the  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  which  controlled  the  conclusion 
.1  e  supreme  court  of  appeals  in  deciding  that  the  warrant  book  was  a  public 
'!cjjd.  And  yet  I  shall  now  instantly  prove  that  this  vital  part  of  the  second 
i(  or’s  testimony  is,  like  the  minor  part  of  it,  atrociously  false. 

I  ask  you  now,  Mr.  Wise,  to  take  in  hand  all  of  the  second  auditor’s  reports 
jr  achof  the  fiscal  years,  ending  September  30th,  1871,  1872  and  1873,  respec- 
A\  These  reports  comprise  the  entire  period  between  the  organization  of 


70 


the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  under  the  provisions  of  the  “  funding  bil 
and  the  date  of  my  trial.  Examine  them  carefully  from  one  end  to  the  oth 
and  you  will  not  find  one  word  or  syllable  touching  this  sinking  lund,  or  in  a 
manner  indicating  its  existence  in  the  first  two,  and  none  whatever,  in  the  last 
the  nature  of  an  “  annual  report  to  the  legislature,”  such  as  it  is  pretended  in  i 
testimony  of  the  second  auditor  was  made  out  by  him  from  “  a  statement  of  i 
amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  on  had  in  the  sinking  fund which  sta 
ment  it  is  further  pretended,  “  was  each  year  made  out  by  the  second  auditc 
And  the  only  reference  to  the  existence  of  the  sinking  fund  at  all  in  any  of  th 
reports  is  a  brief  mention,  in  the  last  one,  of  what  he  says,  “  will  appear  by 
report  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund.”  And  even  this  briei  ment 
is  based  upon  the  memorandum  prepared  by  me,  at  his  request,  as  I  have  he 
inbefore  related.  But  in  reproducing  the  information  thus  obtained  from  i 
he  has  blundered  into  a  conspicuous  inexactness  ;  he  stating  that  “  it  will  app> 
by  the  report  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  that  they  havepurchas 
in  the  last  fiscal  year,  stock  of  the  state  amounting  to  $237,930.64,”  whereas 
memorandum  I  gave  him  clearly  stated,  as  was  the  fact,  that  that  was  the  amo 
they  had  purchased  from  the  date  of  their  orgainzation,  August  2nd,  1871, 
to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30th,  1873,  a  period  of  m 
than  two  fiscal  years ;  for  each  of  which  years,  moreover,  the  reports  of 
commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  compiled  by  me,  showed  what  amounts  1 
been  purchased,  and  also  what  amounts  had  bee?i  added  to  the  sinking  funa 
transfers  from  the  board  of  public  works.  If  you  will  also  examine  the  repc 
of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  to  which  my  name  is  signed  as  sec 
tar}’,  you  will  find  this  true. 

I  now  respectfully  submit  that  I  have  proven  from  this  examination  of 
reports  of  the  second  auditor,  that  is  to  say,  by  evidence  in  the  nature  of 
supreme  and  incontrovertible  testimony  of  physical  facts,  that  it  is  not  tr 
as  pretended  in  the  testimony  of  the  second  auditor,  that  he  had  made  an  aim 
report  to  the  legislature  showing  the  amount  of  bonds  purchased  for  the  sink 
fund,  as  he  implies  he  was  required  to  do  by  section  22  of  chapter  42  of  the  t 
of  i8yj.  By  the  same  irrefragible  proof  I  have  also  shown,  conclusively,  tha 
had  never  made  any  “  report  to  the  legislature"  at  all ,  annually  or  otherwise 
to  the  aftairs  of  the  sinking  fund  up  to  the  date  of  his  said  testimony.  If 
law  required  him  to  make  such  annual  reports,  as  he  alleges  that  it  did,  notl 
can  be  more  obvious  than,  that  in  giving  his  testimony  at  my  trial,  his  self-interest 
prompting  him  to  make  it  appear  that  he  had  discharged  his  duty  under  the  ] 
whether  the  fact  was  so  or  not. 

But  until  a  pyramid  can  be  constructed  by  putting  up  the  apex  first,  it 
remain  impossible  for  it  to  be  true,  in  the  face  of  the  proofs  which  this  evidc 
in  the  nature  of  physical  facts  presents  to  the  contrary,  that  “  from  s^id  war 
book  there  was  each  year  made  out  by  the  second  auditor,  a  statement  of 
amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  on  hand  in  the  sinking  fund,  from  w 
statement  the  second  auditor  ”  made  out  his  “  annual  report  to  the  legislatui 
the  amount  of  said  bonds.” 

But,  in  this  “  testimony  ”  of  the  second  auditor,  it  is  also  pretended 
from  the  statement  pretended  to  have  been  made  out  each  year  by  the  sec 
auditor  from  said  warrant  book  ”  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  made 
their  annual  report  to  the  legislature.”  Now,  you,  Mr.  Wise,  know,  from  evid< 
adduced  at  my  trial  by  the  commonwealth  (and  the  same  can  be  other 
abundantly  proven)  that  every  report  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  I 
up  to  the  time  ol  my  trial  was  made  out  by  myself  alone,  as  their  secretary, 
was  never  seen  nor  in  any  manner  supervised  until  entirely  complete  and  re 


71 


'  transmission  to  the  governor  to  be  laid  before  the  legislature.  This  testimony 
s,  indeed,  elicited,  I  believe,  with  the  intent  to  suggest  injurious  suspicions 
ainst  me  in  the  preparation  of  these  reports  ;  but  it  being  presently  ascertained 
it  the  said  reports  were  absolutely  accurate  in  every  particular,  the  effort  to 
?gest  suspicions  against  me  on  account  of  their  preparation  was  abandoned, 
ice  now,  therefore,  it  is  known  that  I  alone,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other 
rson,  prepared  and  was  privy  to  the  preparation  of,  the  reports  of  the  commis- 
ners  ot  the  sinking  fund,  I  respectfully  submit  that  it  is  not  possible  that  the 
lond  auditor,  or  any  other  person  on  earth  except  myself,  is  competent  to  testify 
to  the  sources  from  which  I  obtained  the  necessary  information  for  the  compil- 
on  of  said  reports  ;  and  I  have  hereinbefore  tully  explained  the  manner  in 
lich  I  did  compile  them,  from  which  it  has  been  seen  that  I  did  not  make  them 
t  from  any  “  statement  made  out  by  the  second  auditor  ”  each  year,  nor  from 
y  statement  made  out  by  him  at  all,  nor  from  any  statement  made  out  by  any 
ler  person  “  from  said  warrant  book  and  that,  in  fact,  I  did  not  use  the  said 
rrant  book  as  an  authentic  source  of  information  in  making  out  the  said  reports, 
all. 

Thus  you  see,  Mr.  Wise,  the  evidence  in  the  nature  of  physical  facts — a  class 
evidence  far  above  the  fallibility  of  human  testimony — conclusively  shows  a 
native  to  the  second  of  the  propositions  in  the  evidence  of  the  second  auditor, 
|ted  by  him  as  a  matter  of  fact ;  and  proves  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that 
\s  not  true  that  “  from  said  warrant  book  there  was  each  year  made  out  by  the 
'ond  auditor  a  statement  of  the  amount  (the  face  value)  of  the  bonds  on  "hand 
::he  sinking  fund,  from  which  statement  the  second  auditor  and  the  commission- 
of  the  sinking  fund  made  out  their  annual  report  to  the  legislature  of  the 
hunt  of  said  bonds.” 

The  third  of  the  propositions  in  the  t  estimony  of  the  second  auditor,  stated 

I  him  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was,  no  doubt,  of  equal  importance  with  the  second  of 

propositions  in  influencing  the  opinion  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  in 
biding  that  the  said  warrant  book  was  a  public  record.  That  proposition  is  as 
caws,  to  wit:  “  Such  warrant  book  being  the  only  official  record  or  memoran- 
1' a  from  which  such  amount  could  be  ascertained.”  Of  this  proposition,  pre- 
pied  by  the  second  auditor  to  be  a  matter  of  fact  in  his  testtimonv,  I  shall  now 
gfly  but  very  effectually  dispose  by  instantly  proving  that  it  is  false. 

;  [  If  you,  Mr.  Wise,  will  go  to  the  office  of  the  second  auditor  you  will  find 
h  e,  no  doubt  carefully  filed  away,  the  original  orders  from  the  commissioners 
li’he  sinking  fund,  drawn  and  signed  by  me  as  their  secretary,  authorizing  the 
e and  auditor  to  issue  his  warrant  upon  the  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  money 
p  .ccount  of  the  purchase  of  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund.  In  each  of  these  orders 
ijname  of  the  seller  of  the  bonds,  the  amount  of  the  bonds  (the  face  value) 

II  the  amount  ot  money  to  be  paid  for  them  are  specifically  stated.  And  though 
second  auditor  might  be  able  to  produce  “  such  warrant  books  ”  as  the  one 

wired  to  be  forged,  in  a  pile  as  large  as  the  Washington  monument,  yet,  unless 
e  ould  produce  these  orders  he  would  not  be  able  to  show  even  the  shadow  of 
ujority  tor  his  act  in  issuing  his  warrants  for  the  payment  of  money  out  of  the 
'e  ;ury  on  account  of  the  purchase  of  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund  ;  nor  to  pre- 
any  authentic  “  official  record  or  memorandum  ”  from  which  the  amount  of 
Kionds  so  purchased  could  be  ascertained  ;  for  a  list  of  these  orders  (such  as 
k  aid  “  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  ”  in  reality  was),  would  not  be  an 
flat  record  of  the  acts  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  unless  au¬ 
nt  icated  by  their  signatures,  or  that  of  their  secretary  for  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  if  this  “  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  ” 
iCi  d(  be  lost  or  destroyed  or  stolen,  it  would  be  a  very  easy  matter  for  the  seo 


72 


ond  auditor  or  one  of  his  clerks  to  take  these  original  orders  and  Irom  them  p 
pare  anew  this  “  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  as  kept  in  the  second  audit( 
office,”  and  this  would  be  a  mere  matter  of  clerical  labor  which  could  be  lawk 
done  at  any  time;  and  when  done  would  unquestionably  possess  every  elenr 
of  authenticity  possessed  by  the  warrant  book — the  “  public  reccfrd  alleged 
be  forged.  And  let  us  hope  it  would  possess  a  smaller  number  ol  clerical  in 
curacies  than  that  prepared  by  Mr.  Morrison  and  alleged  to  be  the  subject 
forgery  at  my  trial. 

But  if  one  of  these  original  orders  should  be  stolen,  lost,  or  destroy 
although  the  second  auditor  might  perhaps  be  able  to  write  a  new  one  just  1 
the  one  so  lost  destroyed  or  stolen,  by  referring  to  the  memorandum  of  it  entei 
in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund,  as  kept  in  his  office,  yet  if  he  ventui 
to  do  so,  I  think  any  jury  would  be  pretty  certain  to  find  him  guilty  of  forge 
if  brought  to  trial,  and  prosecuted  with  one-hundredth  part  of  the  zeal  you  c 
played  in  prosecuting  me,  Mr.  Wise. 

Again :  If  you,  Mr.  Wise,  will  go  to  the  treasury  office,  you  will  find  ca 
fully  filed  away  there,  all  the  original  warrants  from  the  second  auditor  auth 
izing  the  treasurer  to  pay  out  money  on  account  of  the  purchase  of  bonds 
the  sinking  fund.  In  each  of  these  original  warrants  (issued  by  the  seco 
auditor  in  conformity  to  the  orders  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fun 
the  name  of  the  seller  of  the  bonds,  the  amount  of  the  bonds  purchased  (1 
face  value),  and  the  amount  of  money  to  be  paid  for  them  are  specifically  stat 
and  each  of  the  warrants  is  duly  signed  by  the  second  auditor,  and  attested 
one  of  his  clerks.  These  are  the  treasurer’s  vouchers  to  show  his  authority 
the  disbursement  of  the  money  in  his  hands  belonging  to  the  sinking  fund, 
one  of  these  original  warrants  should  be  stolen  lost  or  destroyed,  the  treasu 
could  easily  prepare  a  new  one  exactly  like  the  one  stolen  lost  or  destroyed, 
reference  to  the  original  orders  from  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  fi 
in  the  second  auditor’s  office ;  or  he  could  do  so  by  referring  to  the  entry 
memorandum  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund,  as  kept  in  the  secc 
auditor’s  office,  whether  that  warrant  book  was  the  original  one,  or  another  wh 
the  second  auditor  had  written  up  in  place  of  the  original  one  lost  stolen  or  ( 
stroyed.  But  the  treasurer  could  not  do  this  lawlully  for  it  would  be  “  forgin; 
public  record.”  If,  however,  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  as  kepi 
the  second  auditor’s  office  should  be  lost  stolen  or  destroyed,  it  could  be  read 
written  up  anew  from  these  original  warrants  filed  in  Ike  treasury  office ,  and 
do  it  would  £>e  entirely  legal  and  proper ;  and  this  warrant  book  so  reproduc 
would  be  every  way  as  authentic  as  the  original  one  which  had  been  stolen  li 
or  destroyed. 

I  have  thus  made  it  as  clear  as  the  noon-day  sun,  by  the  testimony  of  phys-, 
facts  that  the  third  of  the  propositions  stated  by  the  second  auditor  in  his  te 
monv  as  a  matter  of  fact  is  in  reality  false — such  warrant  book,  I  have  pro1 
was  NOT  “  the  only  official  record  or  memorandum  ”  from  which  the  amount  ( 
face  value)  of  the  bonds  purchased  for  the  sinking  kind  could  be  ascertain! 
but,  to  the  contrary,  if  the  said  warrant  book  were  to  be  stolen  or  destroyed 
amount  of  bonds  purchased  for  the  sinking  fund  (the  face  value)  could  be  res 
ly  and  accurately  ascertained  from  the  original  orders  of  the  commissioners  of 
sinking  fund  filed  in  the  second  auditor  s  office  ;  and  it  these  original  orders 
well  as  the  said  warrant  book  were  to  be  stolen  or  destroyed,  then  from  the  or. 
nal  warrants  signed  by  the  second  auditor  and  attested  by  one  of  his  clerks 
filed  in  the  treasury  office  as  the  treasurer's  vouchers  the  same  information  cc 
be  readily  and  accurately  ascertained.  And,  in  fact ,  the  amount  of  bonds  ). 
phased  for  the  sinking  fund  cannot  be  authentically  ascertained  at  all  fra/n 


73 


irrant  book  oj  the  sinking  fund ,  as  kept  in  the  second  auditor' s  office,  unless  the 
id  warrant  book  be  verified  by  comparison  with  the  said  original  orders  and 
irrants. 

Thus  you  see,  Mr.  Wise,  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  in  affirming  the  judg¬ 
ing  and  sentence  of  the  court  under  which  I  have  been  made  to  suffer  a  degrad- 
X  imprisonment,  were  misled  and  deceived  as  to  the  matters  of  fact — by  the 
itimony  of  the  second  auditor,  as  certified  to  them  by  the  judge  of  the  nisi prius 
urt;  for  by  the  highest  class  of  evidence  known  in  jurisprudence — the  supreme 
d  incontrovertible  testimony  of  physical  facts — I  have  proven  that  that  testi- 
iny,  thus  certified  as  aforesaid,  was  absolutely  and  essentially  false  both  as  to  the 
nor  matters  of  detail  and  the  graver  particulars  of  which  it  purported  to  be  a 
le  statement. 

And  here  I  wish  to  reiterate  what  I  declared  in  the  beginning ;  namely,  that 
what  I  say  it  is  my  purpose,  as  far  as  human  nature  will  permit  me,  to  speak 
vith  malice  towards  none — with  charity  for  all.”  And  in  making  this  exposure 
the  untruthfulness  of  the  second  auditor’s  testimony  my  object  is  to  denounce 
:  injustice  which  has  been  done  me  under  the  forms  of  the  law,  and  not  re- 
lgefully  to  arraign  the  second  auditor  as  a  perjured  witness  whose  motive  in 
>e-swearing  was  to  make  it  appear  that  he  had  performed  the  duties  required 
him  by  law.  In  laying  the  proofs  of  his  false  swearing  before  you,  Mr.  Wise, 
s  with  no  expectation  that  you,  as  the  attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  will 
nsecute  him  for  perjury,  for  I  am  aware  of  the  statute  which  limits  a  prosecu- 
i  for  perjury  to  the  period  of  three  years  after  its  perpetration  ;  and  I  was 
■  it  in  prison  longer  than  three  years  after  the  perjury  was  committed  by  means 
i  which  I  was  sent  to  prison.  “  With  malice  towards  none — with  charity  for 
i  I  harbor  no  design  of  revenge ;  but  it  is  not  a  pleasant  reflection  that  it  was 
i  means  ol  such  testimony  as  this  that  I  was  convicted  of  a  crime  which  I  never 
<  imitted,  all  my  earthly  prospects  ruined,  and  all  the  sweetness  taken  out  of  life 
pme. 

i  In  this  connection,  I  wish  to  relate  an  episode,  which,  though,  in  point  of  time, 
'latei  date  can  be  most  appropriately  related  here.  It  is  as  follows  :  Nearly  a 
jsr  after  my  incarceration  I  was  at  last  permitted  to  see  a  copy  of  the  opinion  of 
fi  supreme  court  of  appeals,  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  nisi  prius  court  in 

case.  It  has  since  been  printed  in  Grattan’s  Reports,  and  I  beg  you,  Mr. 
'V’e,  to  refer  to  it  in  this  connection.  On  reading  it,  in  my  cell,  I  discovered 
jlp  speedily  that  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  had  been  misled  and  deceived  by 
ill  false  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  as  to  the  matters  of  fact,  as  the  same 
n  certified  to  them  by  the  judge  of  the  nisi  prius  court.  But  I  was  utterly 
nzed  on  reading  a  certain  passage  in  the  text  of  that  opinion  to  which  I  now 
*i .  to  call  your  attention.  The  points  (gathered  from  the  testimony  of  the 
send  auditor,  to  which  the  court  refer)  which  purport  to  define  the  character  of 
Jcvarrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  and  designate  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
Hi  ed  to  have  been  used  are  recapitulated,  and  thereupon  the  court  cite  learned 
U  oritaes  and  declare  their  opinion  that  the  said  warrant  book  is  “  a  public 
-('id.  But  furthermore,  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  put  themselves  upon  the 
-c  :d  as  follows,  to  wit : 

And  we  are  fortified  in  this  view,  by  the  fact  known  to  us  judicially,  that  the  second  audi- 
'q  ho,  as  we  have  seen  was  a  member  of  both  boards,  has,  since  the  creation  of  the  new  sinking 
Continued  to  keep  in  his  office  the  record  of  the  transactions  in  relation  to  the  sinking  fund, 

the  22nd  section  of  chapter  42,  code  of  1873,  precisely  as  he  did  before  the  new  sinking 
tfljvas  established  ;  and  has  annually  reported  the  same  to  the  legislature,  as  a  portion  of  the 
M.ctions  of  his  office,  without  any  intimation  to  him  on  the  part  of  that  body  that  he  was 
•tij  ng  authority,  or  any  amendment  or  repeal  of  the  law  under  which  he  was  acting.” 


74 


I  was  utterly  amazed  on  reading  this,  for  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  to  f 
another  instance  in  which,  in  assigning  the  reasons  a  priori  for  the  conclusions  < 
learned  court,  there  is  stated  in  so  small  a  compass  so  much  of  untruth  and 
same  affirmed  ex  cathedra  to  be  a  “fact  known  to  us  judicially.” 

First. — Contrary  to  the  affirmation  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals, 
statutes  of  Virginia  declare  that  the  second  auditor  was  not,  and  should  not 
a  member  of  the  board  of  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  as  that  fund  ' 
established  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  “  funding  bill,”  [see  code  of  i860,  chaj 
44,  section  6]  ;  and  his  duties  under  the  law  establishing  that  fund  were  incom] 
ible  with  membership  in  a  board  to  manage  it.  [See  same  chapter  of  the  c 
of  i860.]  But  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  sink 
fund  of  which  he  was  not  one  of  the  commissioners,  a  new  sinking  fund 
established  by  law  radically  different  from  the  former  sinking  fund,  and  he 
then,  and  not  till  then,  made  a  member  of  the  new  board  to  manage  this  1 
sinking  fund  [see  “  funding  bill.”] 

Second. — Contrary  to  the  affirmation  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  if 
now,  Mr.  Wise,  will  compare  the  “  records  in  relation  to  the  transactions  of 
sinking  fund  ”  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  “  funding  bill  ”  (which  were,  indi 
“  kept  ”  in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  but  only  in  the  sense  of  being  depos, 
there  for  safe  keeping),  you  will  find  that  the  said  records  are  not  only  not  “  3 
cisely  like  ”  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  as  kept  in  the  second  audit 
office,  which  is  the  only  “  record  of  the  transactions  in  relation  to  the  sinf 
fund,”  which  it  is  even  pretended  that  there  has  been  kept  “  since  the  new  sink 
fund  was  established  ”  by  the  second  auditor ,  “  under  the  22nd  section  of  chal 
42,  code  of  1873,”  but  you  will  find  that  these  two  “  records  ”  were  absolui 
and  essentially  different  from  each  other.  They  differ  from  each  other,  fui 
mentally,  in  respect  of  the  underlying  system  upon  which  they  were,  respecti 
kept ;  they  differ  from  each  other,  essentially,  in  respect  of  the  characteristics 
qualities  which  can  alone  give  the  weight  and  title  of  authenticity  to  a  pi 
record  ;  they  differ  from  each  other,  practically,  in  respect  of  the  nature,  cha 
ter  and  extent  of  the  information  which  they,  respectively,  contain  as  a  “  re 
of  the  transactions  in  relation  to  the  sinking  fund and  they  differ  from  1 
other,  absolutely,  in  respect  of  the  purposes ,  as  sources  of  information,  for  w 
they  were,  in  fact,  respectively,  kept  and  used.  It  is,  I  respectfully  submit,  < 
cult  to  conceive  how  two  such  things  can  more  entirely  and  absolutely  differ  ) 
each  other  than  a  physical  comparison  between  the  records  cf  the  old  sin 
fund  and  the  “  warrant  book  of  the  [new]  sinking  fund,  as  kept  in  the  sec 
auditor’s  office,”  proves  that  they  do  differ  from  each  other ;  notwithstanding 
affirmation  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  to  the  effect  that  they  are  “  prec 
alike.” 

Third. — Contrary  to  the  affirmation  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  I 
already  hereinbefore  conclusively  PROVEN  by  the  supreme  and  incontestible  iestit 
of  physical  facts  that  the  second  auditor,  up  to  the  date  of  my  trial,  had 
“  annually  reported  the  same  [the  transactions  in  relations  to  the  sinking  fum 
the  legislature,  as  a  portion  of  the  transactions  of  his  office.”  For  I  have  prc 
that  the  second  auditor  had  never  made  any  report,  annually  or  other 
“  of  the  transactions  in  relation  to  the  sinking  fund  ”  either  as  “  a  portion  0: 
transactions  of  his  office,”  or  otherwise. 

Now,  I  think  it  must  be  conceded  that  an  “  affirmation  ”  by  the  sup: 
court  of  appeals  (supposing  that  they  were  to  make  such  an  affirmation)  tha 
bed  of  the  Potomac  river  is  on  the  same  level  as  the  summit  of  the  Peaks  of  0 
could  not  make  that  A  fact  in  spite  of  the  proofs  which  physical  geogr; 
adduces  to  the  contrary ;  and  no  more  does  their  “  affirmation  ”  now  that  it  1 


1 5 

t  known  to  us  judicially  ”  make  it  true  that  the  second  auditor  has  annually 
lorted  to  the  legislature,  “  under  the  22nd  section  of  chapter  42,  code  of  1873,” 
;  transactions  of  his  office  in  relation  to  the  sinking  fund,  in  face  of  the  fact  to 
:  contrary  that  all  of  his  reports  have  been  examined  and  found  to  contain  no 
:h  thing. 

On  reading  the  passage  I  have  quoted  in  the  “  opinion  ”  of  the  supreme 
jrt  of  appeals,  I  was  struck  with  amazement,  and  no  doubt  you,  Mr,  Wise,  will 
astonished  on  reading  it  now.  In  my  meditations  on  the  subject,  I  felt,  as  a 
rginian  who  loves  his  state,  a  painful  regret  that  that  august  tribunal,  our 
rreme  court  of  appeals,  should  have  put  themselves  on  the  record  as  giving  their 
licial  sanction  to  a  falsehood.  I  did  not  think  that  they  had  done  this  injury  to 
:  because  of  any  personal  feeling  against  me  ;  but  I  believed  that  they  had  done 
hrough  inconsiderate  haste.  It  illustrates  the  indecent  rapidity  with  which  the 
Dceedings  in  my  case  were  rushed  through ,  from  first  to  last.  If  the  object  had 
m  to  get  me  into  the  penitentiary  as  quickly  as  possible,  before  the  fury  of 
blic  indignation  which  had  been  cunningly  aroused  against  me,  should  have 
le  to  cool  and  react  in  my  favor  upon  a  full  development  of  the  facts,  a  better 
n  could  not  have  been  devised  than  that  pursued.  I  would  fain  believe  that 
supreme  court  were  not  conscious  that  they  were  bending  to  the  popular 
nor  for  the  punishment  of  a  prisoner  accused  (though  falsely)  of  stealing  public 
ds. 

With  a  patriot’s  sincere  desire  to  save  the  highest  court  in  the  state  from  the 
is  of  public  confidence  which  I  feared  it  might  sustain,  but  with  no  motive  of  self- 
3-rest  whatever,  I  conceived  the  idea  of  privately  communicating  the  facts  I  have 
;  related  to  one  of  the  judges  of  the  court,  with  a  view  of  affording  an  opportu- 
f,  if  possible,  to  amend  the  opinion  by  striking  out  the  passage  I  have  quoted, 
vordingly,  I  got  the  superintendent  of  the  penitentiary  to  send  a  note  for  me  to 
h.  Jos.  Christian,  one  of  the  judges,  requesting  him  to  come  and  gi„ve  me  an 
1  rview.  I  made  this  request  of  him  because  I  had  learned  that  he  was  not  on 
ii  bench  when  my  case  was  before  the  court,  and,  as  a  matter  of  delicacy,  I 
light  it  best  to  make  the  communication  to  him  rather  than  to  any  other  mem- 
eof  the  court.  Having  also  heard  that  he  was  on  terms  of  great  intimacy  with 
Kemper,  I  was  afraid  he  might  be  deterred  from  visiting  me  by  the  idea  that 
i  ght  solicit  his  good  offices  to  obtain  a  pardon  for  me ;  and  therefore  in  my 
0  I  took  occasion  to  disavow  any  such  intention  and  assured  him  that  I  wished 
)  immunicate  with  him  only  on  a  subject  of  interest  to  the  court  of  appeals, 
hr  a  delay  of  more  than  a  month,  Judge  Christian  did  visit  me,  arid  I  com- 
u  icated  to  him  the  facts  as  I  have  related  them  herein.  At  the  close  of  the 
it- view  Judge  Christian  suggested  to  me  that  if  my  friends  would  get  up  a 
e  ion  to  Governor  Kemper  for  my  pardon  on  the  condition  that  I  should  leave 
i)  inia  and  never  more  return,  he  thought  Governor  Kemper  would  pardon  me. 
■If  aid  he  was  so  confident  of  it  that  he  would  be  “  almost  willing  to  guarantee 
r  And  then  he  added  some  encouraging  references  to  what  he  was  pleased  to 
il  ay  “  talents  and  acquirements,”  and  said  that  if  I  would  go  to  “  a  new  country” 
-Uorado  he  thought  presented  the  most  inviting  field — I  could  rise  to  a  high 
qsion  in  the  world.  My  response  was  in  these  words,  to  wit :  “  Judge  Christian,. 

1  1  /ere  to  ask  the  governor  to  pardon  me  on  the  condition  of  expatriation  it 
o-I  be  tantamount  to  a  confession  that  I  was  guilty  of  the  crime  of  which  I  was 
Is  y  convicted.  Sir,  I  have  never  committed  any  crime  yet,  and  I  will  rot  in 
■1 i  'i  before  I  will  do  or  say  anything  which  may  even  imply  that  I  have.”  And 
e'  upon  he  left  me.  ■ 

,  n  reply  to  all  this,  I  know  that  I  may  be  answered  that  even  if  it  be  conceded 
a1  he  character  and  importance  of  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund,  as  a 


7G 


record,  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  used,  as  a  source  of  information,  wt 
falsely  represented  in  the  testimony  of  the  second  auditor ;  and  that  the  judic 
declaration  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  to  the  effect  that  the  said  testimo 
was  “  fact  known  to  us  judicially  ”  was  also  in  reality  false  ;  and  even  if  it 
further  conceded  that  the  real  facts  in  the  case  fully  prove  that  the  said  warn 
book  was  not  a  public  record  and  therefore  could  not  be,  in  law,  the  subject  of  t 
crime  imputed  to  me ;  yet  all  my  labor  in  proving  this  has  only  been  upon  t 
line  of  now  supplementing  the  efforts  made  by  my  counsel  to  secure  my  esca 
from  the  penalty  of  the  law  by  means  of  a  “  legal  stratagem.”  And  I  know  tl 
I  may  be  told  that  neither  facts  nor  arguments  upon  that  line  can  affect  the  mo 
aspect  of  the  charge  upon  which  I  was  tried.  In  the  present  consideration  of  i 
case,  truth  and  justice  are  to  be  regarded,  but  not  such  technicalities  of  the  law1 
may  chance  to  favor  the  acquittal  of  the  guilty. 

I  think  I  may  justly  claim  the  right  to  save  the  point  that  my  whole  cat 
was  staked  by  my  counsel  upon  their  own  voluntary  suggestion,  upon  their  pi 
fessional  success  as  “  legal  strategists and  that,  without  any  fault  of  mine,  th 
thus  lost  my  case  through  ignorance  of  the  real  facts  or  through  a  failure  to  p 
sent  them  ;  and  that,  therefore,  my  false  conviction  was  the  consequence  of  ine 
cient  defence  and  not  a  proof  that  I  was  in  reality  guilty.  Since,  therefore,  r 
only  chance  of  “  acquittal  ”  was  in  an  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  nisi pr. 
court  to  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  through  which,  as  Mr.  Royall  inferred  in 
note  to  me  after  my  trial,  my  counsel  expected  “  a  reversal  of  the  verdict, 
think  I  have  the  right  to  present  the  disproofs  of  the  testimony  as  to  matters 
fact  by  which  the  appellate  court  were  misled  and  deceived  in  forming  th 
opinion  affirming,  instead  of  reversing,  the  verdict.  Saving  this  point,  I  ; 
quite  willing  to  admit  that  the  question  to  be  considered  is  not  whether  the  w 
rant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  is  a  public  record  and,  as  such,  capable  of  bei 
forged  ?  But  it  is  :  Is  the  fact  charged  against  me  in  the  indictment  tri 
namely,  Did  I,  in  reality,  make  an  erasure  in  the  said  warrant  book,  with  int 
thereby  to  defraud  the  commonwealth  ? 

If  it  were  possible,  I  would  gladly  go  to  trial  now,  de  novo,  upon  this  chai 
before  any  impartial  jury  of  my  countrymen,  and  ask  no  favor  but  a  fair  tr 
But  as  this  cannot  be  done,  I  propose  to  prove  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  that  the  chai 
is  false.  In  the  first  place,  you  have  seen  from  my  references  to  the  orders  fi 
in  the  second  auditor’s  office,  and  the  warrants  filed  in  the  treasury  office,  t 
I  could  not  defraud  the  commonwealth  by  making  any  erasure  in  the  warn 
book  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  because  these  orders  and  'warrants  would  be  a  prom 
and  effectual  check  to  prevent  it.  As  it  was  known  to  me  that  it  was  thus  imp 
sible  to  defraud  the  commonwealth  by  making  an  erasure  in  the  warrant  book 
the  sinking  fund,  if  I  had  attempted  to  do  so,  I  ought  to  have  been  put  un<J 
restraint  as  an  idiot  instead  of  a  criminal. 

In  the  next  place,  you  know,  Mr.  Wise,  from  tjie  evidence  at  my  trial,  t 
Gov.  Kemper  swooped  down  upon  me  so  suddenly  in  his  imperious  demand 
“  an  immediate  investigation,”  that  he  did  not  allow  me  time  even  to  arrange 
books  and  papers  of  the  sinking  fund,  much  less  to  take  this  warrant  book  i 
go  over  the  entries  in  it  with  such  careful  examination  as  would  have  been  nec 
sary  to  enable  me  to  pick  out  this  particular  entry,  and  make  just  such  an  erasun 
it  as  would  make  a  reduction  of  just  $10,000.  There  are  many  other  entries 
that  warrant  book,  as  you  know,  Mr.  Wise,  which  could  have  been  altered,  j 
if  I  had  been  seeking  to  defraud  the  commonwealth  by  altering  any  entry,  surj 
I  am  intelligent  enough  to  have  made  a  more  judicious  selection.  You  km 
from  the  evidence,  Mr.  Wise,  that  up  to  the  hour  when  Gov.  Kemper  demand 
“an  immediate  investigation”  there  was  no  earthly  reason  why  I  should  have  alteil 


;  warrant  book ;  for  the  making  up  of  the  accounts  of  the  sinking  fund  was  left 
ely  to  me,  and  I  was  thus  accountable  only  to  myself;  and  you  also  know,  Mr. 
ise,  from  the  same  evidence,  that  after  that  hour  this  warrant  book  remained  in 
;  hands  of  auditors  Taylor  and  Rogers,  and  that  I  had  no  possible  access  to  it 
d  could  not  have  made  any  erasure  in  it,  even  had  I  desired  to  do  so.  You 
ow  from  the  evidence,  indeed,  that  I  had  no  opportunity  even  to  examine  it  at 
y  time  after  Gov.  Kemper  demanded  “  an  immediate  investigation,”  except  in 
;  manner  and  at  the  time  I  have  herein  specified  ;  namely,  when  treasurer  Mayo 
rnutted  me  to  take  it  from  the  treasury  safe  on  Friday  evening,  for  the  purpose 
making  the  examination,  as  I  have  related.  Besides,  you  know,  Mr.  Wise,  that 
ire  has  never  been  a  syllable  of  evidence  to  show  when ,  or  where ,  or  how  I  did 

It  must,  therefore,  I  respectfully  submit,  be  conclusive  to  any  fair-minded 
.n  that  up  to  the  hour  I  have  specified,  I  had  no  motive  to  make  the  erasure  ; 
cause  the  crime  of  forgery  consists  of  “  false-making,  forging  and  counterfeit- 
with  intent  to  defraud  some  one.  In  this  case  it  was  a  public  record  alleged 
be  the  subject  of  “  false-making  ”  by  alteration,  and  it  was  well  known  to  me, 
I  have  shown  that  such  an  alteration  could  not  defraud  the  commonwealth. 
:erefore,  the  only  motive  which  the  law  recognizes  as  constituting  the  gist  of  a 
gery  was  manifestly  absent ;  and  therefore  I  could  have  had  no  motive  to  com- 

the  act.  It  was,  in  fine,  morally  preposterous  that  I  should  have  done  it  before 
i  certain  hour  specified,  and  physically  impossible  for  me  to  do  it  after  that 
hr. 

Finally,  the  only  evidence  to  connect  me  with  the  alleged  erasure  at  all,  was, 
s;ou  know,  Mr.  Wise,  the  testimony  of  treasurer  Mayo.  Judge  Guigon  in- 
:ned  Gov.  Kemper  that  I  would  not  have  been  convicted  “  in  the  absence  of 
lyo’s  testimony  and  you  know,  indeed,  that  my  arrest  and  trial  was,  in  fact, 
ought  about  by  means  of  a  warrant  against  me  sworn  out  by,  and  at  the  in- 
t  ation  of,  treasurer  Mayo.  In  the  narrative  of  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  and 
fescially  the  real  character  and  incidents  of  the  interview  between  treasurer  Mayo 
r  myself,  on  the  Saturday  night  preceding  my  arrest,  I  have  shown  the  atrocious 
r  uthfulness  of  his  testimony  at  my  trial.  I  now  offer  the  evidence,  in  the  nature  of  a 
Isical  fact,  to  prove  my  statement  true  in  denial  of  my  alleged  “confession”  to  him. 
t  to  be  found  upon  an  examination  of  the  sheet  of  paper  on  which  auditor 
fclor  put  down  the  amounts  of  bonds  purchased,  as  the  same  were  called  off  by 
u  tor  Rogers,  on  the  Thursday  afternoon  when  Gov.  Kemper  was  present  and 
tonally  supervising  the  “  immediate  investigation.” 

You  saw  me,  Mr.  Wise,  when,  at  my  examination  in  the  police  court,  I  pointed 
u:o  Gen.  Bradley  T.  Johnson  on  that  paper  where  I  had  rubbed  out  the  figure 
i  in  pencil-mark,  just  as  I  have  related  that  I  did,  on  that  Friday  night,  between 
luour  of  12  o’clock  midnight,  and  2  o’clock  A.  M.,  when  making  the  examina- 
D  of  the  warrant  book,  as  I  have  fully  related  hereinbefore.  And  now  I  will 
:rnd  you,  Mr.  Wise,  of  another  corroborating’ circumstance.  It  is  as  follows: 
fr  the  jury  had  brought  in  their  verdict  against  me,  notwithstanding  the  enfeebled 
itorostrate  condition  of  mind  and  body  in  which  I  then  was,  I  had  a  dim  per¬ 
il  on  that  my  counsel  had  not  made  any  real  defence  for  me  as  to  the  fact 
If  ed  in  the  indictment,  and  I  conceived  the  idea  that  it  might  become  possible 
J  ■  uture  day  for  me  to  make  that  real  defence  before  the  public  for  myself. 

that  idea,  I  went  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  in  the  court-room,  before  I  was  removed 
reconveyance  to  jail,  and  then  and  there  described  to  you  the  paper  on  which 
jc  or  Taylor  put  down  the  amounts  of  bonds  purchased,  as  the  same  were  called 
f  pm  the  warrant  book  by  auditor  Rogers,  and  you  told  me  you  understood 
h  paper  I  meant ;  I  then  stated  to  you  that  the  said  paper  was  of  the  highest 


73 


importance  to  me  as  a  thing  of  evidence  to  prove  that  I  never  made  any  su 
“confession”  as  treasurer  Mayo  had  falsely  testified  to,  and  I  then  besought  yc 
Mr.  Wise,  as  an  officer  of  the  court,  to  take  that  said  paper  and  have  it  careful 
preserved,  just  as  it  was  when  first  produced  in  the  police  court,  until  circumstanc 
might  permit  me  to  call  upon  you  for  it  to  be  used  as  evidence  for  my  vindicatic 
You  promised  me,  Mr.  Wise,  that  you  would  do  so.  If  you  have  done  so,  plea 
let  it  now  be  produced.  It  will  prove  my  statement  in  reference  to  it  TRUE,  a: 
thereby  prove  that  the  facts  were  as  I  have  hereinbefore  related  them  and  not 
treasurer  Mayo  falsely  testified  that  they  were. 

So  much  has  been  said,  and  published  in  the  newspapers,  in  relation  to  t 
insanity  of  treasurer  Mayo,  that  I  do  not  care  to  enter  upon  any  consideration 
that  matter  here.  A  jury  decided  that  he  was  insane,  and  he  was  therefore  r 
prosecuted  for  the  crimes  for  which  he  was  indicted  by  the  grand  jury.  To  t 
average  citizen  of  ordinary  intelligence,  it  would  seem  that  if  he  was  irrespc 
sible  for  his  own  crimes,  because  of  his  insanity,  he  would  be  incompetent  as 
witness  as  to  matters  which  occurred  during  the  period  when  he  was  insai 
And  I  may  safely  affirm  that  that  is  the  universal  judgment  of  all  lawyers.  E 
the  courts,  by  a  peculiar  course  of  reasoning  too  metaphysical  for  ordinary  jt 
tice  between  man  and  man,  held,  in  effect,  that  although  it  was  established  by  t 
evidence  that  he  was  “  a  few  days  shortly  before  his  examination  ”  as  a  witn< 
at  my  trial  “  decidedly  insane  and  also  that  “  a  few  days  after  his  examinatioi 
he  was  “  in  the  same  condition  ”  and  that  for  months  afterwards  he  was  and  cc 
tinued  to  be  “  a  lunatic  yet  as  it  was  not  proven  that,  at  the  very  moment 
testified,  he  was  then  insane,  that  therefore  “  he  was  competent.”  The  suprer 
court  of  appeals  admit  in  their  “  opinion,”  pronounced  in  my  case,  that  it  u 
proven  that  a  few  days  before  he  testified  he  was  “  decidedly  insane  ”  and  t 
testimony  on  this  point,  as  you  know,  Mr.  Wise,  embraced  the  very  Saturd 
night  on  which  the  interview  between  him  and  myself  occurred.  The  effect 
the  decision  of  the  court  is  therefore  that  a  madman  “  in  a  lucid  interval  ”  i: 
competent  witness  as  to  matters  which  occurred  at  a  previous  period  when  p 
haps  he  may  have  been  rolling  in  a  wild  phrenzy  of  madness.  If  this  is  the  1 
the  sooner  the  legislature  amends  it  for  the  protection  of  unoffending  citize 
the  sooner  will  be  it  safe  to  reside  in  Virginia.  If  the  ruling  of  the  courts  in  i 
case  is  to  be  enforced  as  a  precedent,  no  citizen  is  safe  from  the  fate  which  be: 
me,  if  at  any  time  he  may  happen  to  be  thrown  in  company  with  a  lunatic  w 
is  subject  to  “  lucid  intervals.”  I  hope,  for  the  safety  of  society,  that  the  legis 
ture  at  its  next  session  will  enact  a  law  so  restricting  the  courts  in  receiving  t 
“testimony  of  insane  witnesses ,  that  hereafter  no  citizen  may  be  subjected 
my  miserable  fate.  And  I  would  suggest  that  if  ever  such  a  case  as  mine  shot 
again  occur  in  which  a  witness,  in  a  lucid  interval ,  is  allowed  to  testify  as  to  thii 
which  occurred  when  he  was  mad,  as  afterwards  adjudged  by  a  commission 
lunatico  inquirendo ,  the  law  ought  to  provide  that  the  verdict  and  judgment  r 
dered  upon  his  testimony  shall  be  declared  void  and  set  aside. 

I  am  aware  that  a  madman  may  have  a  lucid  interval,  and  that  in  a  lucid  Inter 
he  may  be  allowed  to  testify  as  to  facts  which  occurred  in  that  lucid  interval, 
before  he  became  insane  ;  though  even  then  the  jury  must  be  notified  of  the  m 
tal  condition  of  such  a  witness  and  his  testimony  will  be  received  with  gr 
caution.  But  I  defy  even  your  learning  and  ingenuity,  Mr.  Wise,  or  that  of 
court  of  appeals  to  produce  another  case,  in  all  the  judicial  annals  of  the  civili: 
world,  in  which  a  lucid  madman,  or  a  madman  in  a  lucid  interval,  has  b' 
allowed  to  testify  as  to  facts  which  occurred  while  he  was  a  madman.  1 
reason  for  this  is  so  obvious  that  every  man,  even  he  who  runs  may  read  it 
wit :  A  lunatic  is  non  compos  mentis ,  that  is,  he  has,  at  the  time  of  theallec 


79 


ccurrence  not  mind  enough  to  take  in  the  facts,  and  is  not  responsible  for  his 
:wn  acts.  So  that,  if  he  commits  murder  even,  or  what  would  be  murder  in 
nother,  it  is  not  murder  in  him,  and  he  will  be  acquitted.  And  only  think  of 
le  monstrosity  of  permitting  a  man  who  is  acquitted  of  the  crime  of  killing, 
jecause  he  has  no  mind  and  therefore  no  consciousness,  being  permitted  to  testify 
|'iat  while  thus  mad,  perhaps  as  he  rose  from  the  body  of  his  bleeding  victim,  he 
iw  another  man  commit  another  murder,  and  upon  his  testimony  the  other  man 
hanged  !  The  absurdity  of  such  a  proposition  is  sufficient  to  extinguish  it,  but 
s  monstrosity  is  shocking  and  inhuman.  Yet  upon  such  testimony  have  I  been 
ade  to  suffer,  while  the  man  who  slew  me  walks  abroad  as  an  innocent  for 
ihom  not  merely  sympathy,  but  full  respect  is  demanded. 

You  also  attempted,  Mr.  Wise,  in  conducting  the  prosecution,  to  show  that  I  had 
motive  of  concealments®  make  the  alleged  erasure.  For  that  purpose  two  profes- 
onal  gamblers  were  introduced  as  witnesses.  One  of  them  said  that  1  borrowed 
I  oo  from  him,  and  left  a  state  bond  in  his  hands  for  security  ;  but  that  in  a  day  or 
■'O  afterwards,  I  returned  the  $100  to  him  and  he  the  bond  to  me,  thus  cancelling 
e  transaction.  There  was  certainly  nothing  in  this  transaction  to  infer  any 
otive  on  my  part  to  make  the  alleged  erasure  ;  and  I  think  that  you,  Mr.  Wise, 
ve  so  admitted. 

The  other  of  these  witnesses  said  that  I  sold  him  $600  in  state  bonds  and 
cteen  three-dollar  coupons.  The  testimony  of  this  witness  was  false.  I  never 
Id  him  a  bond,  or  a  coupon,  in  all  my  life.  But  I  went  into  his  gambling- house 
e  night,  with  a  party  of  friends,  and  lost  more  money,  at  play,  than  I  had  on 
nd.  And  thereupon  I  put  into  his  hands  these  bonds  and  coupons  to  hold,  as 
:urity,  until  I  could  conveniently  pay  him  the  money.  Up  to  the  time  of  my 
•est,  I  had  not  paid  him  the  money,  and  he  then  took  advantage  of  my  situa- 
n  to  claim  their  ownership,  as  forfeited  ;  and  then  at  my  trial  falsely  swore  that 
lad  sold  them  to  him. 

But,  even  if  it  had  been  true,  I  respectfully  submit,  as  a  cogent  argument  of 
thmetic,  and  of  reason,  that  it  could  infer  no  motive  on  my  part  to  make  the 
eged  erasure.  For  if  the  alleged  erasure  could  have  made  it  appear  that  the 
tount  of  bonds  on  hand  was  at  all  less  than  it  really  was,  it  would  have 
:.de  it  so  appear  to  the  amount  of  $10,000  ;  and  it  would  have  been  a  prepos- 
:  ous  proceeding  to  attempt  to  make  it  appear  that  the  amount  of  bonds  was 
),ooo  less  than  it  really  was  in  order  to  conceal  the  larceny  of  only  $600  of  said 
spds,  even  if  I  had  been  guilty  of  that  larceny. 

Again  :  As  you  well  know,  Mr.  Wise,  there  was  no  evidence,  whatever,  that 
;se  $600  of  bonds  had  ever  belonged  to  the  sinking  fund.  Though  there  was  1  he 
pngest  presumptive  evidence  to  the  contrary.  Because,  neither  you,  Mr.  Wise, 
j  i  attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  nor  Judge  Guigon,  presiding  in  the  court, 
j  ide  any  effort  to  require  this  witness  to  disgorge  the  property  and  restore  it  to 
sinking  fund — as,  of  course,  you  would  have  done,  had  there  been  any  reason 
oelieve  that  the  bonds  in  question  belonged  to  the  sinking  fund. 

It  t  The  real  fact  was  that  these  bonds  were  my  own  property.  As  I  have  shown, 
ji  ieinbefore,  I  acquired  $560  of  “  peeler  ”  bonds,  as  “  difference,”  by  making  the 
i,  hange  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  with  Mr.  J.  C.  Williams,  of  the  firm  of 
'  acs,  Taylor  &  Williams  ;  and,  as  I  have  also  hereinbefore  pointed  out,  in  the 
culation  in  which  I  engaged  with  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.  in  the 
istered  “  consols,”  bought  in  Baltimore,  one  $100  “  peeler  ”  bond  was  taken 
[them,  through  mistake,  in  a  lot  of  bonds  purchased,  and,  in  the  settlement 
ween  us,  this  one  $100  “  peeler”  bond  was  turned  over  to  me  for  value.  And 
||>e  “  peeler  ”  bonds,  amounting  to  $660,  were,  as  I  have  shown,  my  own 
fyerty,  of  which  I  used  $600  to  put  up,  as  security,  for  the  money  I  had  lost  at 


play  in  the  gambling-house  of  this  witness.  The  coupons  were  detached  coupe 
belonging  to  the  said  bonds.  I  do  not  attempt  to  extenuate,  far  less  to  justi 
my  folly  and  wickedness  in  gambling  against  this  professional  gambler,  or  even 
entering  his  gambling-house,  at  all.  I  am  heartily  sorry  for  it  and  have  deep 
repented.  But  yet,  in  all  humility,  I  think  I  may  justly  claim  that  such  “  gent 
manly  dissipation”  is  not  criminal,  though  wicked  and  foolish ;  or  if  criminal  ; 
cording  to  the  rigid  moral  code,  yet  not  of  so  grave  a  degree  as  to  deserve  t 
merciless  infliction  which  has  been  visited  upon  me. 

In  your  great  zeal,  Mr.  Wise,  to  secure  my  conviction,  I  well  remember  hc! 
in  your  address  to  the  jury  at  my  trial,  you  truculently  assailed  me  with  a  shov 
of  opprobrious  epithets.  In  one  of  your  rhetorical  flights  you  denounced  me  1 
“  hawking  the  bonds  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  faro-banks  of  the  city.” 
the  time  you  did  this,  I  was  a  helpless  prisoner  at  the  bar,  in  the  hands  of  the  h 
and  compelled  to  endure,  in  silence,  all  the  denunciation  which,  for  effect  upon  l 
jury,  you  chose  to  heap  on  me,  and  the  court  permitted.  I  wish  to  say  now  tl 
1  harbor  no  bitter  resentment  towards  you  ;  because  I  think  the  injustice  you  ( 
me  was  born  of  your  great  zeal  to  discharge  your  duty,  as  a  public  prosecut 
especially  in  a  case  like  mine  where  the  accused  had  held  high  position  in  t 
counsels  of  the  political  party  which  elected  you  to  the  office  you  held. 

And  yet,  with  no  animosity  towards  you,  Mr.  Wise,  I  cannot  but  reflect  t! 
in  the  instance  indicated  you  were  but  “  substituting  the  delusive  glitter  of  a  liv 
and  pompous  eloquence,  in  place  of  sound  statements  and  reasonable  cone 
sions.”  For,  as  I  have  just  shown,  there  was  no  evidence,  whatever,  that  the  bor 
in  question  were  “  the  bonds  of  the  commonwealth  except  in  the  sense  that  tl 
were  her  promises  to  pay  ;  and  there  was  also  no  evidence,  whatever,  that  I  was  e- 
in  any  ol  “  the  faro-banks  of  the  city  ;  ”  unless  upon  the  presumption  that  t 
jury  personally  knew  that  your  two  witnesses  were  professional  gamblers  and  tl 
“  places  of  business  ”  faro-banks.  That  they  were  such,  however,  might  h; 
been  shown  by  the  records  of  the  court,  had  you  chosen  to  produce  the  s 
records  of  date  just  two  years  prior  to  my  trial.  The  said  records  would  h; 
shown  that  your  two  witnesses  had  been  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  for  keepin 
faro-bank.  Also  for  unlawful  gaming.  But  it  appears  that  they  effected  so 
sort  of  a  “compromise”  by  which  they  were  allowed  to  plead  “guilty”  to  unlav 
gaming,  which  is  punishable  by  a  small  fine ;  and  nolle  prosequi  was  enterec 
to  keeping  a  faro-bank,  which  is  punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment ;  and  t 
they  “got  off”  and  resumed  their  operations,  each  at  his  same  “  place  of  b 
ness.” 

There  is  a  tradition  related  of  an  eminently  illustrious  Virginian,  referena 
which  I  crave  permission  to  make  in  this  connection.  He,  when  young,  posses 
such  talents  as  excited  high  hopes  of  his  career.  But,  in  an  evil  hour  of  idlen 
he  learned  to  play  billiards  and  became  so  infatuated  with  the  game  that  he  n 
lected  his  vocation.  Finding  that  he  could  not  be  weaned  from  this  fascinat 
pastime  by  persuasion  or  appeals  to  his  reason,  his  friends  w  ho  were  influer 
with  the  legislature,  procured  the  enactment  of  a  law  imposing  so  heavy  a 
upon  billiard-tables  as  to  practically  drive  them  from  the  state.  Thus  freed  fi 
temptation  he  devoted  himself  to  his  profession,  and  achieved  a  noble  succes 
life  as  Chief  Justice  Marshall  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States.  I 
purpose  of  my  reference  to  this  tradition,  Mr.  Wise,  is  to  suggest  that  if  yoi« 
prosecuting  attorney,  and  the  same  court  which  tried  me,  had  enforced  the* 
against  these  two  witnesses  when  they  had  been  indicted  by  the  grand  jurjl 
might  have  been  better  for  me ;  because  up  to  that  time  I  had  never  indulge! 
the  “  gentlemanly  amusement  ”  of  losing  my  money  at  faro. 

Whatever  may  be  the  opinions  as  to  all  that  I  have  hereinbefore  related, 


81 


am  now  about  to  show  will  at  least  interest  every  lawyer,  1  think.  One  of  my 
-Poses  m  presenting  the  full  text  of  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried,  as  I 
at  he  outset  hereof,  was  that  I  might  conveniently  refer  to  it  in  this  connec- 
tn.  Please  examine  it  now.  The  specifications  of  the  offence  imputed  to  me 
e  therein  marshaled  as  follows  : 

(t.)  That  I  was  a  public  officer;  to  wit,  Secretary  of  the  Commissioners  of 
e  Sinking  Fund. 

(2.)  The  book,  or  record,  alleged  to  be  the  subject  of  the  crime  imputed  to 
s  is  descubed  as  “  the  warrant  book  of  the  said  sinking  fund.” 

(3-)  The  fact  alleged  is  “  falsely  and  corruptly  erasing  the  figure  i,”  etc.,  in 

id  warrant  book  “  with  intent  to  defraud.” 

Now  when  the  law  prohibits  an  act  and  declares  it  unlawful,  it  also  prescribes 
punishment  to  be  suffered  by  any  person  found  guilty  of  the  act  prohibited, 
len  tie  jury  pronounce  the  person  guilty  of  the  fact  alleged,  it  is  the  province 
I the  cofrt  to  enforce  the  sentence  prescribed  by  law,  whether  the  crime  be  trea- 
i,  muider,  arson,  larceny,  or  whatever  it  may  be.  And  the  court  may  not  law- 
-y  sentence  to  any  heavier  punishment  than  that  prescribed  by  law.  What 
r.  *  ?  Punishment  prescribed  by  law  for  the  offence  imputed  to  me  as  specified 
1  ie  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried  ?  Here  it  is  as  you  will  find  it  in  the  code 
1073,  chapter  190,  section  22. 

Section  22.  If  a  clerk  of  a  court,  or  other  public  officer,  fraudulently 
;<e  a  false  entry,  or  erase,  alter,  secrete,  or  destroy  any  record  in  his  keeping, 
ne  ongmg  to  his  office,  he  shall  be  confined  in  jail  not  more  than  one  year,  and 
a  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars.” 

It  is  therefore  clearly  shown  from  this  citation  of  the  law  that  even  if  I  had 
<n  guilty  as  found  by  the  jury  upon  the  false  evidence  before  them,  the  maxi- 
)ti  punishment  to  which  I  was  liable  wras  to  be  “  confined  in  jail  not  more  than 
i  year,  and  fined  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars.”  Instead  of  this  com- 
|itivefy  light  punishment  prescribed  by  the  law,  I  was  compelled  to  endure  a 
f  al  servitude  for  four  long  years  of  wretchedness  and  misery.  Had  Judge 
r  gon  sentenced  me  to  be  hanged  it  would  have  been  as  lawful  as  the  sentence 
I  :h  he  did  pronounce  ! 

1  I  have  thus  shown  that  the  sentence  of  the  court  was  grossly  in  excess  of 
1  prescribed  by  law  for  the  offence  imputed  to  me,  even  if  I  had  been  guilty 
■  :  .  1  will  now  show  that  this  atrocious  wrong  was  enormously  aggravated  bv 

icndecent  haste  with  which  it  was  imposed. 

,  The  sentence  was  pronounced  on  the  28th  of  March,  1874.  But  during  the 
^.ress.of  the, trial  exceptions  were  filed  to  several  rulings  of  the  court.  ‘This 
a;the  plan  of  my  counsel  (as  afterwards  indicated  in  Mr.  Rovall’s  note  to 
ft  to  obtain  “  a  reversal  of  the  verdict  ”  by  the  court  of  appeals.  '  Now  the  law 
[tides  as  follows: 

Jf  a  Pers?n>  sentenced  by  a  circuit,  or  corporation,  or  hustings  court  to  death 
>n  nement  in  the  penitentiary,  ask  for  time  to  apply  for  a  writ  or  error,  the 
»lC<nr  £  u  PostPone  tlie  execution  of  its  sentence  until  a  reasonable  time  be- 
|  “e  “rtst  d*y  the  next  term  of  the  court  of  appeals,  not  exceeding  thirty 
'Tu-er  '  -  ^ee  code  ^73’  chapter  203,  section  2.] 

this  mandate  of  the  law  is  plain  and  explicit.  Its  object  is  to  secure  the 
n  jjgAfnst  the  “  snap-judgment of  a  nisi  prizes  court.  Under  it  I  had  the 
If  °f  j  delay  in  the  execution  of  the  sentence  until  “a  reasonable  time  beyond 
e  rst  day  of  the  next  term  of  the  court  of  appeals.”  My  trial  was  held  in 
.  Jr ,  and  the  next  term  of  the  court  of  appeals  ”  was  not  held  (for  Richmond 
*4 )  until  the  following  December,  a  period  of  nine  months.  But  the  court 
0  ed  “  that  the  sergeant  of  this  city  do,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the  expi- 


ration  of  sixty  days  from  this  day,  remove  and  safely  convey  the  said  William  ] 
Coleman,  from  the  jail  of  this  city,  to  the  said  penitentiary.”  Had  Judge  Guigi 
not  thus  arbitrarily  reduced  the  period  of  delay  to  which  I  had  a  right,  under  t 
law,  I  might  have  been  saved,  as  events  have  shown,  from  the  horrible  fate 
which  I  was  subjected. 

But  I  will  also  show  that  this  summary  injustice  in  the  order  of  the  court  w 
exacerbated  in  the  execution  of  the  sentence  by  curtailing  the  respite  to  which 
was  entitled,  even  under  the  said  order  of  the  court. 

About  the  time  the  opinion  of  the  appellate  court  was  rendered,  I  had  si 
ficiently  recovered  in  bodily  health,  mental  strength,  and  vigor  of  spirit  to  lo< 
into  my  case  myself,  with  a  view  of  making  my  own  defence.  I  had  thus  form 
the  purpose  to  attempt  to  secure  justice  by  my  own  efforts.  For,  from 
Royall’s  note  to  me,  and  from  my  own  reflections,  I  was  now  aware  that,  in  fa 
no  defence  had  ever  been  made  for  me.  My  purpose  had  been  formed  as  follow 
In  case  the  appellate  court  “  reversed  the  verdict  ”  as  Mr.  Royall  expected,  t 
effect  wrould  be  to  give  me  a  new  trial,  and  I  intended  then  to  defend  myself 
court.  Or,  if  the  appellate  court  confirmed  the  judgment  against  me,  then  I  wot 
avail  myself  of  the  right  of  petition  to  the  executive,  and  in  my  petition  embo 
all  the  real  facts,  as  I  have  set  them  forth  herein  ;  and  this  petition  I  intended 
address  to  the  executive  through  the  public  prints,  so  as  to  get  a  hearing  of  r 
case  in  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion,  the  court  of  last  resort.  This  purpose  w 
made  known  to  the  few  friends  who  favored  me  with  a  visit  in  the  jail.  As  soc 
therefore,  as  the  opinion  of  the  appellate  court  was  rendered  (April  29th,  187 
I  set  to  work  at  once  to  prepare  my  petition. 

On  Saturday,  May  2nd,  while  I  was  thus  engaged,  a  member  of  the  Sen; 
of  V  irginia — Hon.  A.  W.  C.  Nowlin — came  to  see  me  at  the  jail.  He  told  \ 
that  he  had  come  to  see  me  direct  from  Gov.  Kemper’s  office,  after  holding  a  lo 
interview  with  him ;  he  being,  as  he  gave  me  to  understand,  on  very  intim; 
terms  with  Gov.  Kemper.  With  this  introduction  Senator  Nowlin  continued  1 
conversation  by  proposing  that  if  I  would  put  myself  into  his  hands  and  do  wl 
he  told  me,  he  would  guarantee  that  a  pardon  would  be  sent  me  in  less  t! 
twenty-four  hours.  Now  Senator  Nowlin  and  myself  had  been  friends  from  b< 
hood,  a  fact  to  which  he  feelingly  referred  in  talking  to  me,  and  I  was  fully  p 
suaded  that  he  really  desired  to  assist  me,  and  to  extricate  me  from  my  wretcf 
situation.  But  I  told  him  that  while  I  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  him,  I  co' 
not  promise  him,  or  any  man,  that  I  would,  blindfolded  as  it  were,  do  whate 
he  advised  ;  and  I  asked  him  to  tell  me  first  what  it  was  he  was  going  to  tell 
to  do.  He  then  said  that  Gov.  Kemper  was  firmly  of  opinion  that  in  the  set 
ment  between  the  state  and  the  Richmond'and  Danville  railroad  company  on 
count  of  the  sale  of  the  state’s  interest  in  that  company,  there  had  been  a  great  lr; 
perpetrated  by  which  the  state  had  lost  an  immense  amount.  He  said  he  had  tall 
this  subject  over  with  Gov.  Kemper  and  had  come  direct  from  him  to  me  to 
me  that  if  I  would  furnish  Gov.  Kemper  with  such  information  as  would  ena 
him  to  go  after  the  authorities  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  railroad  comp; 
on  account  of  this  alleged  fraud  against  the  state,  that  Gov.  Kemper  would  f 
don  me  at  once. 

In  reply  I  told  Senator  Nowlin  that,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  be 
the  settlement  between  the  state  and  the  Richmond  and  Danville  railroad  com 
ny  had  been  absolutely  correct,  in  every  particular  ;  and  although  a  pardon  wo 
relieve  me  from  my  wretched  situation,  yet  I  could  not,  in  order  to  obtain  it, : 
nish  the  governor  with  the  information  he  desired,  because  1  had  no  such  in 
mation,  and  would  not  pretend  to  have  it,  in  violation  of  truth  and  honor, 
then  left  me. 


83 


On  Sunday,  May  3rd,  Mr.  John  G.  Mosby,  a  clerk  in  auditor  Taylor’s  office 
ame  to  see  me.  Just  before  concluding  his  visit,  he  said  that  he  had  heard  that 
intended  to  make  a  publication,  and  asked  if  it  was  true,  I  replied  affirmatively, 
le  then  suggested  that  if  in  that  publication  I  would  exonerate  treasurer  Mayo, 
ie  governor  would  pardon  me  at  once,  he  thought.  He  said  that  treasurer 
layo  had  some  very  influential  friends — he  named  Senator  Withers,  Gen.  Pickett 
id  others— and  that  il  I  would  thus  relieve  him,  they  would  use  their  great 
fluence  with  Gov.  Kemper  in  my  behalf.  He  thought  Gov.  Kemper  himself 
ould  be  inclined  to  do  it  in  that  event,  because  he  also  was  a  warm  personal 
iend  of  treasurer  Mayo.  He  also  hinted  that  if  I  would  do  it,  the  influence  of 
e  Association  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  would  be  exercised  in  securing 
pardon  for  me,  because  treasurer  Mayo  was  a  popular  member  of  that  associa- 
j)n-  I  told  Mr.  Mosby  that  I  could  not  possibly  do  what  he  suggested;  that  I 
i  d  committed  no  crime,  but  had  been  falsely  convicted  upon  the  false  testimony 
1  treasurer  Mayo.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  meant  to  say  that  I  did  not  tell 
fasurer  Mayo  that  I  had  made  the  alleged  erasure  in  the  warrant  book  of  the 
nking  fund  ?  I  replied  :  “  Not  in  the  way  he  said  I  did,  but  altogether  differ- 
tt.  He  made  no  further  reference  to  the  subject. 

1  On  Monday,  May  4th,  Major  Raleigh  Colston,  called  to  see  me.  '  He  is  a 
rk  in  the  treasury  office,  and  was  known  to  me  as  the  chief  clerk  and  intimate 
~nd  of  treasurer  Mayo.  It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  he  ^called,  and  very 
m  the  jailor  came  to  lock  me  up  for  the  night.  Major  Colston  left  reluctantly, 
oarently  having  on  his  mind,  as  I  thought,  something  which  he  wished  to  say 
me.  J 

The  next  evening,  (Tuesday  May  5th,)  he  came  again,  and  this  time  he  pro¬ 
ved  to  tell  me  at  once  the  object  of  his  visit.  He  said  that  “  in  a  lucid  interval” 
isurer  Mayo  (who,  in  the  meantime  had  been  adjudged  insane)  had  had  a  talk 
h  Mi.  Henry  Eustice  (another  clerk  in  the  treasury  office,  and  intimate  friend 
treasurer  Mayo)  and  had  asked  him  to  come  and  see  me  and  get  me,  in  the 
dication  which  it  was  reported  I  intended  to  make,  to  so  represent  affairs  as  to 
ulpate  him  (treasurer  Mayo).  For  thus  relieving  him,  Major  Colston  gave  me 
inderstand  that  I  would  be  pardoned  at  once  through  the  efforts  of  influential 
ids  of  treasurer  Mayo.  He  did  not,  indeed,  present  this  proposition,  all  at 
e,  as  broadly  as  I  have  stated  it  here,  but  rather  led  up  to  it  suggestively  and 
degrees.  Treasurer  Mayo  had  asked  Mr.  Eustice  to  come  and  see  me  on  this 
iect,  but  Mr.  Eustice  thought  it  would  be  better  for  Major  Colston  to  do  it, 
he  had  agreed.  He  considered  treasurer  Mayo  already  a  ruined  man  but  he 
ealed  to  me  in  behalf  of  his  little  children  whom  I  could  relieve  from  the 
rna  which  would  rest  upon  them,  in  after  life,  if  I  would  now  exculpate  treas- 
1  Mayo,  by  declaring  to  the  world  that  I  was  guilty  and  he  was  not ;  and  that 
o  so  would  not  make  my  situation  any  worse  for  I  was  already  under  convic- 
;  by  the  jury  and  would  be  imprisoned  ;  whereas,  if  I  would  relieve  treasurer 
?’  ^  _jvouM  be  Pardoned  and  could  go  off  to  a  new  country  and  start  life 
h.  Such,  in  substance,  was  the  overture  that  Major  Colston  made  me  as  the 
fr  sary  of  treasurer  Mayo  ;  but  while  conversing  with  me  and  leading  up  to  the 
jct  of  his  visit,  he  related  several  incidents  to  show  the  condition  of  treasurer  - 
o ;  one  of  which  I  thought  significant  and  will  repeat  here.  He  said  that  on 
iuesday  evening  after  treasurer  Mayo  had  testified  in  my  case,  he  went  to 
reasury  office  and  informed  his  clerks  that  he  was  “going  to  the  country  ” 
few  days,  “  for  his  health  ;  ”  but  instead  of  doing  so,  he  took  the  northern 
a  and,  as  he  (Major  Colston)  afterwards  ascertained,  went  to  Syracuse,  New 
"fir !  but  suddenly  returned  the  following  Saturday.  My  own  opinion  then 


84 


was,  and  is  now,  that  he  started  to  flee  to  Canada,  fearing  that  I  would 
acquitted. 

After  hearing  Major  Colston  patiently,  and  without  interruption,  I  th 
replied  that  I  was  very  sorry  for  treasurer’s  Mayo’s  little  children  ;  although  I  h; 
been  convicted  of  a  crime  which  I  never  committed  on  the  false  testimony  of  th< 
father.  But  not  through  pity  for  them,  even,  could  I  affirm  that  I  was  guilt 
when  I  was  not,  in  order  that  he  might  be  exonerated.  “  For  ”  said  I,  “  I  ha 
committed  no  crime  yet,  and  I  certainly  shall  not  begin  with  perjury  agaii 
myself.”  Major  Colston  remained  silent  and  there  was  a  pause  in  the  converj 
tion.  Then  I  added  that  even  if  I  should  admit  that  I  was  guilty,  when  I  was  m 
it  would  not  relieve  treasurer  Mayo.  There  were  others  beside  myself  who  kn< 
that  he  had  made  exchanges  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  and  pocketed  t 
“  difference.”  This  indeed  was  no  crime,  but  treasurer  Mayo  had  committed  t 
crime  of  perjury  in  swearing  that  he  had  not  done  it  when  he  had,  and  his  perju 
could  be  proven  by  others,  even  if  I  also  should  perjure  myself  to  sustain  a 
thus  exonerate  him.  Major  Colston  replied  to  this  that,  personally,  he  had  ne\ 
known  anything  about  any  “  exchanges  ”  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers,”  but  he  h 
heard  the  subject  referred  to  in  the  treasury  office,  and  it  was  then  mentioned  as 
very  good  operation.”  The  interview  was  then  brought  to  a  close  and  he  left. 

As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  the  jailor  came  to  lock  me  up  for  the  night.  As 
was  doing  so,  I  reminded  him  of  the  fact,  of  which  I  had  previously  spoken  to  hi 
that  under  the  order  of  the  court  suspending  the  judgment  against  me,  there  v 
no  authority  to  convey  me  to  the  penitentiary  before  the  28th  of  the  month 
was  then  the  5th),  and  asked  him  if  he  had  been  told  anything  about  taking  i 
there  at  any  earlier  time.  He  assured  me  that  he  had  not  and  again  promis 
that  in  any  event  he  would  certainly  give  me  notice  two  or  three  days  before  1 
removal,  so  that  I  could  make  such  disposition  of  my  affairs  as  was  necessa 
He  then  locked  me  up  and  I  resumed  the  writing  of  my  petition  in  my  cell. 

Next  morning  (May  6th)  at  5  o’clock  a.  m.,  the  jailor  came  to  my  cell  and  n 
fled  me  that  I  must  be  ready  by  9  o’clock  that  same  morning  to  be  conveyed 
the  penitentiary.  On  my  remonstrating  against  the  suddenness  of  this  remo 
and  reminding  him  of  his  promise  to  give  me  at  least  two  or  three  days  notice, 
that  I  could  arrange  my  affairs,  he  informed  me  that  the  previous  night  after  n 
o’clock,  after  I  had  been  locked  up,  he  had  received  an  order  to  convey  me 
the  penitentiary  that  morning  by  9  o’clock.  He  then  handed  me  a  note  which 
said  had  been  received  the  previous  evening.  This  note  had  been  opened  and 
doubt  read  before  delivery  to  me.  It  was  as  follows  : 

“  Office  of  Richmond  Dispatch. 

Richmond,  Va.,  May  5th,  1S7 

Dear  Coleman: — 1  here  is  a  report  current  that  you  are  preparing  for  publication  a  succ 
statement  of  the  sinking  fund  matters  ;  and  I  write  this  to  ask  that  you  will  let  me  have  it 
clusively — or  at  least  to  use  it  the  day  before  any  one  can  get  at  it.  If  you  can  do  so  you 
greatly  oblige.  "  Your  friend, 

EDWARD  Ii.  FISIIE 

On  reading  this  note  I  called  to  mind  the  mission  on  which  Maj.  Colston 
come  to  me  the  previous  evening,  and  at  once  concluded  that  the  object  of 
summary  removal  to  the  penitentiary  was  to  prer  ent  me  from  publishing 
statement  which  I  intended  to  publish.  But  under  the  circumstances  I  was  po\ 
less  to  resist  the  wrong  thus  imposed  upon  me.  An  "  order  ’’  had  been  i 
down  to  the  jail  at  the  dead  hour  of  the  night  for  my  removal  at  so  early  an  f 
that  it  cut  me  off  from  all  opportunity  to  communicate  with  any  friend,  and  I  co 
do  nothing  but  protest  and  comply  with  what  was  required  of  me.  From  wl 
this  “  order  came  I  have  never  been  able  to  learn,  but  my  opinion  is  that 


usal  of  the  proposition  to  “  exonerate  ”  treasurer  Mayo  was  the  cause  of  its 
ng  sent. 

As  I  have  stated,  the  order  of  the  court  postponed  the  judgment  for  sixty 
^s  from  the  28th  of  March.  Although  before  the  expiration  of  that  period, 
:  opinion  of  the  appellate  court  was  rendered  (for  expedition  characterized  the 
nmary  proceedings  in  my  case  at  every  stage),  yet  the  order  of  the  court  which 
"d  the  case  remained  unchanged,  but  was,  in  fact,  AFFIRMED,  in  connection 
h  the  judgment.  I  could  not  lawfully  be  subjected  to  the  punishment  to  which 
ad  been  sentenced  until  the  time  indicated  in  the  order  of  the  court.  I  called 
:  jailor’s  attention  to  these  points  whilst  protesting  against  this  summary  re- 
ival  to  the  penitentiary,  but  he  only  replied  that  he  was  obliged  to  obey  the 
irder  ”  sent  him  the  previous  night. 

Being  powerless  to  resist  this  unlawful  removal  to  the  penitentiary,  I  hastily 
de  what  preparation  I  could,  though  still  protesting,  and  at  9  o’clock  that 
>rning  (May  6th,  1874),  I  was  taken  by  the  jailor  to  the  penitentiary  and  turned 
ir  to  the  authorities  there  for  incarceration.  Thus  twenty-two  days  before  the 
ler  of  the  court  authorized  it  to  be  done,  was  I  subjected  to  the  hardships  and 
niliations  of  a  convict’s  life,  for  a  crime  which  I  never  committed,  but  which, 
had  been  guilty  of  it,  was  punishable  under  the  law  by  imprisonment  in  jail 
exceeding  twelve  months. 

Such  was  the  vehement  haste  to  get  me  into  the  penitentiary  where  as  in 
iving  grave,”  I  should  not  be  able  to  make  that  appeal  to  public  opinion 
ch  I  contemplated,  that  time  was  not  afforded  even  to  the  clerk  of  the  court 
nake  a  copy  of  the  record  in  the  case,  as  required  by  law,  to  be  delivered  at 
penitentiary  with  me,  and  I  was  taken  there  and  received  as  a  prisoner  by 
officer  acting  as  superintendent,  without  any  copy  of  the  said  record  at  all, 
forthwith  locked  up  in  a  loathsome  cell.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  jailor 
taken  me  to  the  penitentiary  twenty-two  days  before  the  order  of  the  court 
iiorized  it,  yet  without  a  copy  of  the  -  record  in  the  case  as  required  by  law,  it 
i  as  unlawful  to  receive  me  as  a  prisoner  into  the  penitentiary,  as  it  would  be 
sceive  any  citizen  who  walks  the  streets  of  Richmond  to-day,  if  kidnapped 
1  taken  there. 

In  striking  contrast  with  this  summary  method  of  immuring  me  was  the 
iner  in  which,  a  few  months  later,  a  professional  gambler  was  treated,  who, 
judge  Guigon  intimated  in  a  published  letter)  had  been  a  zealous  agent  for 
lin  “  small-fry  politicians  ”  in  Richmond.  This  man  had  been  convicted  of 
fing  an  elderly  gentleman  from  the  country,  and  when  the  jailor,  inKcompli- 
l!  with  the  order  of  the  court  (and  not  against  it,  as  in  my  case),  was  conveying 
to  the  penitentiary  he  was  stopped  on  his  way  by  a  messenger  from  the 
utive  mansion — one  of  the  Governor’s  aides-de-camp — with  an  order  from 
,  Kemper,  directing  the  man  to  be  returned  to  the  city  jail ;  and  he  was  kept 
e  several  days,  while  Gov.  Kemper  was  “  considering  ”  whether  he  would 
on  him  or  not. 

For  many  long  and  weary  months  after  my  summary  and  unlawful  incarcer- 
^ ,  the.  misery  and  wretchedness  of  my  situation  were  too  distressing  to  be 
fibed.  I  disdain  the  argumentum  ad  miserecordiam  and  will  not  dwell  upon 
tory  of  the  wretchedness  I  suffered. 

There  was  only  one  method  by  which  I  could  obtain  relief,  namely,  by  peti- 
1:0  the  executive.  Under  the  law,  in  a  controversy  touching  property  there 
recourse  from  the  decision  of  our  highest  court ;  but  a  citizen’s  life  or  liberty 
re  precious  than  his  property.  The  law  has  therefore  provided  that  where 
■  liberty  is  at  stake  there  may  be  a  recourse  for  the  citizen  even  beyond  the 
st  tribunal  of  the  law.  This  recourse  is  to  the  sovereign.  In  America, 


where  sovereignty  resides  in  the  people,  one  of  its  highest  attributes— that 
pardoning, — is  vested  in  a  chosen  agent  of  the  *  people,  because  a  plebiscitum 
every  case  would  be  impracticable.  In  the  federal  goverment,  the  President 
this  agent;  in  some  of  the  states  it  is  a  commission  called  the  court  of  pardoi 
in  Virginia  it  is  the  Governor.  But  in  whatever  agency  vested,  it  is  a  function 
be  exercised  bv  this  agent  with  reference  to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  princip 
namely,  the  sovereign  people.  It  is  not  a  prerogative  of  the  person  who  ho’ 
the  office  ot  Governor.  And  the  right  of  a  citizen,  when  overwhelmed  by  m 
fortune  as  I  was,  to  petition  the  sovereignty  of  his  country,  (albeit  the  exerc 
of  its  munificence  be  vested  in  an  agent)  is  as  sacred  as  the  right  of  petition  unc 
any  other  circumstances.  But,  as  has  been  seen,  the  most  summary  measu' 
were  taken  to  deprive  me  of  the  opportunity  to  petition,  by  executing  the  juc 
ment  against  me,  twenty-two  days  before  the  time  designated  in  the  order  of  t 
court  which  pronounced  the  sentence.  Indeed,  the  course  pursued  against  i 
was  such  as  might  have  been  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  the  Fehmgericht,  fr< 
which  the  precept  comes  that  “  dead  men  tell  no  tales.” 

After  my  incarceration,  of  course,  I  had  no  opportunity  to  petition.  Besid 
I  was  repeatedly  admonished  that  any  petition  from  me  to  Gov.  Kemper,  wot 
be  unavailing.  Members  of  the  legislature,  who  had  been  my  personal  frien 
occasionally  visited  me,  as  under  the  law  they  were  privileged  to  do,  and  evt 
one  of  them  told  me  that  even  the  favorable  mention  of  my  name  to  Gov.  Ke 
per  invariably  excited  his  ire.  On  one  occasion,  as  I  learned,  several  members 
the  legislature  together  visited  the  governor  in  his  office,  and  one  of  them  spc 
of  me  in  a  kindly  manner.  Gov.  Kemper,  with  a  warmth  which  was  aim 
wrathful,  took  up  the  subject  and  exclaimed  against  these  kindly  expressions 
my  favor  by  members  of  the  legislature.  Becoming  excited  by  the  conv'ersati 
he  rose  from  his  chair  and  paced  the  floor,  vehemently  haranguing  his  visit 
in  a  sort  of  cabinet  speech  against  me,  vindictive  in  spirit  and  full  of  invecti 
I  relate  this  incident  as  it  was  told  to  me,  and  has  since  been  corroborated 
substance,  by  you,  Mr.  Wise,  \Vho  was  present  in  the  governor’s  office  on  t 
occasion,  as  I  have  been  informed. 

All  this,  let  it  be  remembered^  was  before  any  petition  in  my  behalf  had  b< 
presented  to  Gov.  Kemper,  and  at  a  time  when  I  was  deprived  of  even  the  j 
portunity  to  petition.  What  chance  could  a  petition  in  my  behalf  have  had 
a  fair  and  impartial  consideration  at  his  hands  ? 

Mindful  of  the  lact  that  the  people  of  Virginia  have  once  chosen  G 
Kempertto  the  highest  position  within  their  gift,  I  will  make  no  reflections,  u[ 
him.  When  Saint  Paul  was  brought  before  Ananias,  he  essayed  to  assert 
innocence,  but  was  ordered  to  be  smitten  in  the  mouth.  The  apostle  denoun 
Ananias  for  thus  denying  him  a  hearing,  “  contrary  to  the  law,”  and  threatei 
him  with  the  vengeance  of  Heaven — “  God  shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wal 
But  being  reminded  that  he  was  addressing  the  High  Priest,  he  humbly  submiti 
without  another  word  ;  because,  as  he  said,  “  it  is  written,  Thou  shall  not  sp 
evil  against  the  ruler  of  thy  people.”  Yet,  surely,  I  may  be  permitted  to  s 
gest,  in  the  language  of  Gibbon,  that  “  We  may  learn  from  the  example  of  C 
that  a  character  of  pure  and  inflexible  virtue  is  the  most  apt  to  be  misled  by  [ 
judice,  to  be  heated  by  enthusiasm,  and  to  confound  private  enmities  with  pu 
justice.” 

At  the  same  time  that  I  was  thus  summarily  immured  in  a  convict’s  < 
treasurer  Mayo  was  conveyed  to  a  lunatic  asylum,  he  having  been  adjudged 
sane  by  a  commission  de  lunatico  inquirendo. 

About  eighteen  months  after  my  incarceration,  I  was  informed  that  he 
recovered  from  his  lunacy  and  was  to  be  speedily  tried  upon  certain  indietm< 


bich  had  been  found  against  him  by  the  grand  jury.  These  indictments  were 
r  the  larceny  and  embezzlement  of  state  bonds  belonging  to  the  state  treasury 
f,°n  , 10s<;  missing  from  the  sinking  lund.  I  became  apprehensive  that  at  his 
al  advantage  might  be  taken  of  my  situation  to  exculpate  him  at  my  expense, 
therefore  got  permission  from  the  prison  authorities  and  sent  a  note  to  Hon. 
tnes  yons  requesting  him  to  visit  me.  That  gentleman  obtained  a  permit  from 

and  Came  t0r  See  miS:  -1  re<duested  him  to  appear  at  treasurer 
y  ,  i  t0  Pro^ect  me  from  the  injustice  I  feared  would  be  attempted  and  he 
m  m  S°i  ,  ,  thls  in,terv.levv  he  advised  me  to  petition  for  a  pardon  which 
M  V°U  d  accorc|ed  in  order  that  I  might  be  used  as  a  witness  against 
1 1  i  fu°'m  i  declined  to  do  it.  I  bad  committed  no  crime  myself  and 

te’s  evidence1”^  °f  C°mg  an}thing  which  might  imply  a  willingness  to  “  turn 

In  order  that  Mr  Lyons  might  act  advisedly  in  my  behalf,  I  proposed  to  put 
;TTPuS!fSS10r}  °f  die  real  facts  ;  and  to  that  end  offerred  to  read  the  paper 
ch  i  had  partly  written  in  the  city  jail  before  my  removal  to  the  penitentiary  ; 
p  which  paper  I  have  transcribed  the  greater  part  of  the  statements  contained 
nis  communication  to  you,  Mr.  Wise. 

At  this  point  Mr  Lyons  informed  me  that  he  had  brought  with  him  Jo.  Lane 
rn,  Lsq.,  a  young  lawyer  who  was  his  professional  associate,  and  proposed  to 

m  fr™  -m  \  fke  pa,rt  in  thf  interview.  1  very  willingly  assented  and  Mr. 
n  was  invited  in  and  entered  with  us  upon  the  business  in  hand.  I  then  read 
em  considerable  portions  of  the  paper,  embracing  the  material  matters.  Both 
t  emen  were  impressed  by  the  facts,  and  advised  me  to  finish  the  paper,  which 
n  the  form  of  a  petition  for  executive  clemency,  and  let  it  be  submitted  to  the 
Zur’  mterview  closed  with  the  understanding  that  I  would  do  so,  if 

Tget  the  “pessary  permission  and  facilities  ;  it  being  also  agreed  that 
,  Lyons  and  Stern  would  appear,  for  my  protection,  at  treasurer  Mayo’s 
.which  was  to  take  place  in  about  ten  or  twelve  days. 

On  the  Sunday  before  the  day  fixed  for  this  trial,  Mr.  E.  Carrington  Cabell 
prosecuting  attorney  for  Richmond  city,  came  to  see  me  and  bv  permission 
e  prison  authorities,  conversed  with  me  in  nrivat<=  .• 


i  •  .  ...  v-lty  j  LU  w  _ _ 

ae  prison  authorities,  conversed  with  me  in  private.  He  informed  me  that,  in 

rLLrln  W?U  d  be  atte.mPted  to  exculpate  treasurer  Mayo  at  my  expense 
t0  glve  him  information  as  to  the  facts  so  that  he  could  conduct 
orosecution  successfully.  He  said  that  the  counsel  for  treasurer  Mayo  were 
learned,  and  experienced  lawyers,  and  he  needed  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
t 1  f  g’uldanfe  and  assistance.  He  also  hinted  to  me  that  a  certain  witness 

fised tWY  7h°mi  16  nan?ed-.Y°tuld  “swear  very  hard”  against  me,  and 
used  that  if  I  would  comply  with  his  request  he  would  make  it  to  my  interest 

fe?.ly  }  declined  to  entertain  the  idea  of  benefiting  myself  in  the  manner 
n?^ated-  1  'vould  toll  him  nothing  except  with  a  sincere  purpose  to  pro- 
ie  ends  of  truth  and  justice.  I  then  told  him  that  Messrs  Lyons  and  Stern 

iL,cPtuar -a!- treasurer  Mayo’s  trial  to  protect  me,  and  referred  him  to  them, 
tnus  the  mterview  ended. 

\Jessrs.  Lyons  and  Stern,  however,  found  no  occasion  to  defend  me  at  treas 
ravo  s  trial,  for  he  successfully  pleaded  non  compos  meniis—and  was  released 
.e  and  set  at  liberty. 

fc  C°aseqUenCe  °f  fadln?  health,  Mr.  Lyons  was  unable  to  visit  me  any  more 
f',t,Crn  came  several  times.  Bv  his  advice  and  that  of  Mr.  Lyons,  who 

*  submit”'Sefoilows?rm,SS,0n  1  Prepared  *  petiti0n’  *  of  »hid’ 


88 


PETITION  OF  WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN. 


To  His  Excellency,  ) 

|  ames  L.  Kemper,  Governor,  >■ 

of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  ) 

Sir: — The  humble  petition  of  the  undersigned  respectfully  sheweth  as  follows: 

At  the  March  term,  1S74,  of  the  hustings  court  of  the  city  of  Richmond  “  a  true  bill 
found  by  the  grand  jury  thereof  on  each  of  two  sepaiate  indictments  against  your  petitioner 
felony:  One  for  the  alleged  larceny  and  embezzlement  of  certain  securities  for  money  of 
property  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia  ;  and  the  other  for  the  alleged  forgery  of  a  cer 
public  record.  At  the  same  term  of  the  said  court  your  petitioner  was  summarily  arraigned  ; : 
without  adequate  opportunity  to  prepare  his  defence — without  even  a  single  consultation 
conference,  with  counsel  hurriedly  sent  from  a  distance  to  conduct  his  defence,  by  a  friend,  (; 
petitioner  himself  being  then  ailing  in  body,  enfeebled  in  mind,  and  broken  in  spirit ;  wit! 
means,  locked  up  in  gaol,  and  otherwise  prevented  by  circumstances  from  obtaining  the  as: 
ance  of  counsel  in  the  city  of  Richmond) — was  precipitately  hurried  to  trial,  thus  unprepa: 
and  was  falsely  convicted  upon  the  indictment  for  forgery  : — the  prosecution  having  electei 
try  him  upon  that  indictment  in  preference  to  the  other  (although  the  said  other  indictment, 
the  alleged  larceny  and  embezzlement  of  public  property,  comprised  the  real  crime,  if  any  ci 
your  petitioner  had  committed)  because,  as  your  petitioner  fully  believes,  it  was  intended  (as 
afterwards  actually  done)  to  use  the  false  testimony  of  Col.  Jos.  Mayo  j r.,  purposing  thereb; 
prove  a  pretended  “  confession  ”  by  your  petitioner  of  the  said  alleged  forgery  ;  whereas,  to  ( 
vict  your  petitioner  of  the  crime  alleged  in  the  other  said  indictment  there  was  not  even 
pretence  of  any  evidence — as  was  soon  after  fully  shown  by  the  virtual  acknowledgement  the 
on  the  part  of  the  attorney  for  the  commonwealth,  implied  in  his  entering  on  the  docket  “1 
prosequi  ”  as  to  that  said  other  indictment. 

In  accordance  with  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  your  petitioner  was,  on  the  2Sth  day  of  Ma 
1874,  sentenced  to  the  harsh  and  unjust  punishment  of  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  for 
term  of  four  years  for  the  alleged  forgery  of  a  public  record,  namely,  the  warrant-book  of 
sinking  fund  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia — a  crime  which  your  petitioner  not  only  m 
committed,  but  which  he  never  in  all  his  life  conceived  the  idea  of  committing. 

But,  during  the  progress  of  the  trial,  however,  exceptions  were  filed  to  certain  rulings  of 
•court  by  your  petitioner’s  counsel ;  his  several  bills  of  exceptions  were  received,  signed, 
sealed  by  the  court,  and,  at  your  petitioner’s  request,  (through  counsel)  the  judgment  was  p 
poned  for  sixty  days.  Thereupon,  application  was  made  to,  and  a  writ  of  error  ami  superse 
awarded  by  one  of  the  honorable  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals.  In  this  last-nai 
court,  the  cause  came  on  to  be  argued  on  Wednesday,  April  22d,  and  on  Wednesday,  April  2 
their  opinion  was  rendered,  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  hustings  court. 

It  was  about  this  point  of  time  in  the  progress  of  affairs  when  your  petitioner  first  felt  1 
self  sufficiently  recovered  in  bodily  health,  mental  strength,  and  vigor  of  spirit  to  look  intc 
case  himself,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  for  himself,  the  legal  points  of  the  prosecution  aga 
him.  A  copy  of  the  record,  as  certified  to  the  appellate  court  by  Judge  Guigon,  had  been 
cured  for  your  petitioner,  and  this  he  now  examined.  It  was  at  once,  or  very  speedily,  discovi 
that  the  appellate  court  had  been  misled  and  deceived  in  the  matter  of  forming  their  conclusi( 
Because  :  (1.)  Their  opinion  was  based  upon  the  representations  of  the' matters  of  fact  of 
case  as  the  same  had  been  summed  up  and  certified  by  the  nisi  prius  court.  (2-)  In  Jr 
Guigon’s  certificate  as  to  what  were  the  facts  in  the  case,  as  the  same  had  been  deposed  by 
nesses  and  given  to  the  jury,  your  petitioner  found  several  very  material  points,  represented  t 
matters  of  fact,  which  your  petitioner  knows,  and  which  he  could  then  have  proven — ana 
now  prove — were  not  matters  of  fact  at  all,  but  exactly  the  reverse.  Your  petitioner  there 
believed — and  does  now  believe— that  if  the  real  facts  had  been  embodied  in  Judge  Guigon' s  cei 
cate  to  the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  their  opinion  would  have  been  the  reverse  of  what  it  was. 

The  misfortune  of  your  petitioner  was  (it  was  now  revealed  to  him)  that  his  own  coui 
having  had  no  conference  with  him  by  which  they  might  have  obtained  the  necessary  infou 
tion,  had  been  ignorant  of  the  real  facts,  and  hence  had  not  been  prepared,  when  the  easel 
before  the  nisi  prius  court,  to  defend  him  there  judiciously. 

But  your  petitioner  was  advised  that  there  is  no  remedy  at  law  for  such  an  anomaly  a 
error  in  the  opinion  of  that  august  tribunal  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  ;  and  therefore  dial 
had  no  recourse  except  to  the  sovereign  power  of  pardoning  which,  by  their  organic  law! 
people  of  Virginia  have  entrusted  to  the  discretion  bf  the  chief  executive  of  the  commonwej 
With  intent,  therefore,  to  seek  the  relief  thus  obtainable’according  to  law,  your  petitioner  I 
went  to  work  at  once  to  prepare  a  petition  to  Your  Excellency  ;  purposing  in  the  said  petitid 


89 


late  the  truth,  the  -whole  truth,  and  nothing  hut  the  truth  of  all  the  matters  touching  his  unhappy 
ase,  and  to  prove  his  statement  true  upon  every  point  which  might  admit  of  question.  For  yo  n 
etitioner  did  then  believe— and  does  now  believe— that  if  full  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  were  id 
om  Excellency  s  possession  fou  would  not  hesitate  one  moment,  but  would  instantly  aff  md  your  feti- 
onei  at  least  the  relief  of  his  personal  liberation  by  exercising  in  his  behalf  the  sovereign  attribute  of 
ardomng  with  which  the  good  people  op  Virginia  have  empoweied  you. 

As  has  just  been  stated,  the  order  of  the  court  postponed  the  judgment  for  sixty  days.  Although 
etoietne  expiration  of  that  period  the  opinion  of  the  appellate  court  was  rendered,  yet  ‘the 
tii  op  t  te  court  which  tried  the  case  remained  unchanged,  and  was  itself,  in  fact,  affirmed  in  connec- 
on  with  the  judgment.  Your  petitioner  therefore  held — and  still  believes — that  he  could  not 
w  idly  be  subjected  to  the  punishment  to  which  he  had  been  sentenced  until  the  time  indicated 
:  the  order  of  the  court.  This  postponement  of  the  judgment  by  order  of  the  court  had  in  fact 
ereiore  the  force  and  virtue  of  a  short  respite  to  the  benefit  of  which  (albeit  perhaps  not  thus 
tended)  your  petitioner  had  a  right  he  thinks.  With  this  view  in  mind,  your  petitioner  pro- 
eded  in  the  preparation  of  his  said  petition,  confidently  expecting  to  complete  the  same  before 
le  expiration  of  his  respite. 

It  was  your  petitioner  s  purpose  to  publish  his  petition  as  well,  as  to  present  it  to  Your  Ex- 
,  enc),  ecause  he  had  become  aware  that  public  sentiment  had  been  atrociously  perverted  to 

-  enoimous  wrong  and  injury,  by  means  of  monstrous  falsehoods  published  in  the  city  papers 
1  otherwise  disseminated,  and  he  wanted  the  public  to  know  the  real  facts,  through  your 
owledge  of  which,  itr  he  should  prove  the  same  to  you,  he  fully  believed  and  confidently  expected 
it  l  our  Excellency  would  pardon  him  without  delay. 

I  ll e  order  op  the  court  postponing  the  judgment  for  sixty  days  was  entered  of  record  on  the 
it  day  ot  March  ;  the  respite,  therefore,  would  not  have  expired  until  the  28th  of  May.  But 
ednesday,  the  6th  op  May  at  5  o'clock  a.  m.  the  gaoler  came  to  your  petitioner’s  cell  in  the 
'{  »ao  and  notified  him  that  at  9  o’clock  that  same  morning  he  must  be  ready  and  would  be 
[loved  and  conveyed  at  once  to  the  penitentiary.  This  gaoler  had  previ.  usly  promised  your 
jitionei  that  in  the  event  of  his  removal  to  the  penitentiary  at  any  time  prior  to  the  28th  of 
If  y0ur  Petitioner  having  claimed  his  right  to  the  respite  implied  in  the  order  of  the  court  and 
Djtestec  against  any  earlier  removal)  lie  would,  at  least,  give  him  notice  several  days  b  fore- 
r  ,  and  now,  111  notifying  your  petitioner  of  this  most  summary  removal,  he  stated  that  he 
I  received  an  order  to  that  effect  the  previous  night  after  nine  o’clock,  wlvn  your  petitioner 
I  been  locked  up  for  the  night.  He  then  handed  your  petitioner  a  letter  that,  he  said,  had 
■ie  the  previous  evening.  It  was  a  very  friendly  letter  from  a  reporter  for  a  city  paper  statin^ 

.  tere  was  a  repoit  current  that  your  petitioner  was  “preparing  a  succinct  statement  01 
sinking  fund  matters,  and  proposing  to  publish  the  said  “  statement  ”  in  his  paper.  That 

-  e  wa.s>  mcTed'  such  “a  rePort  current”  in  the  city,  your  petitioner  had  also  been  informed 

I  previous  afternoon  (Tuesday,  the  5th  of  May)  by  a  certain  gentleman,  well  known  to  yout 
.oner  as  an  intimate  and  confidential  friend  of  Cl.  Mayo.  This  gentleman  visited  your 
turner  in  the  gaol  on  that  occasion  ( he  had  previously  called  at  the  gaol  for  the  same  purpose, 
t  illed  to  sta  e  his  business  because  of  interruption)  as  the  bearer  of  a  proposition,  (or  what 
1  virtually  a  proposition)  to  the  effect  that  if  in  the  “statement  ”  which  it  was  reported  your 
|.ionei  intended  writing  he  would  so  represent  affairs  as  to  exculpate  Cel.  Mayo  that  then  cer- 
Ij  veiy  influential  friends  of  Col.  Mayo  would  use  their  great  “  influence  with  the  governor  ” 
■secure  for  your  petitioner  Your  Excellency’s  gracious  pardon.  Your  petitioner  refused 
■jrtain  the  “  proposition.  ’ 

i  jin  obedience  to  the  gaoler’s  order  your  petitioner  now  made  hasty  preparations  for  his  pre- 
fa  e  removal  to  the  penitentiary,  though  still  protesting  against  it  ;  and  at  9  o’clock  that  day,  ac- 
ii'o  I  yo“r Petl  1  ,"fr  v^as  conveyed  to  the  penitentiary,  therein  incarcerated,  and  subjected 
If  6 ,  ds. 'Ps  f,nd  humiliations  and  degradations  of  a  convict’s  life,  all  of  which  he  has  been 
Iff.,?  continually  to  endure  ever  since.  Thus,  twmty-two  days  before  the  order  of  the  court 
U  used  it  to  be  done,  was  this  penal  servitude  imposed  upon  your  petitioner  for  an  alleged  crime 
I  t  he  never  committed  If  the  judgment  had  been  death  ins  ead  of  this  imprisonment 
1  vour  Petitioner  would  then  willingly  have  preferred)  it  would  have  been  as  lawful  to  ham T 
«u>e  ore  the  day  tppointed  by  the  court  as  it  was  to  imprison  him  in  the  penitentiary. 

H  especially  embittered  this  premature  imprisonment  was  that  it  deprived  your  petitioner 
°*ly  °PP°rtumty  he  had  had  to  state  and  prove  the  real  facts  in  his  unhappy  case.  '  He  is  firm  l  v 
Maded  and  has  ever  been,  that  if.  before  he  left  the  gaol,  he  could  have  completed  and  stib- 
1 1  o  Your  Excellency  the  “  statement,”  with  the  proofs,  of  all  the  facts  which  he  was  pre^ 
Ef  '  '0lm°r  executlve  clemency  that  Your  Excellency  would  have  pardoned  him  ai 

d  he  wouId  never  have  been  conveyed  to  the  penitentiary  at  all.  Moreover,  this 
lave  established  vnnr  npfiHrm^r’c  ti'n*  «-l.  -  _ 


J  Z  '  ,  would  have  established  your  petitioner’s  true  defence—  the  counsel  sent  from  n 
1  r*  1  fhafe  defend  him  are,  to  this  day,  ignorant  of  the  real  facts,  and,  in  their  ignorance 
real  facts,  they,  unfortunately,  attempted  a  fatal,  false  defence—, and  the  publication  of  tfa* 


90 


true  defence  namely,  the  real  acts  of  the  case  ami  the  proof  s  thereo  ,  would  have  disabused  the  pu 
lie  mind  of  the  atrocious  falsehood,  by  which  it  had  been  perverted  to  his  enormous  injury  ar 
unjust  execration.  But  this  unlawful  premature  incarceration  in  the  penitentiary  like  a  burl 
in  “  a  livin"  crave,”  effectually  frustrated  all  your  petitioner  s  purposes,  and  expectations  of  tl 
description  indicated  ;  for  he  was  forthwith  set  to  manual  labor  as  a  convict,  the  manuscript 

his  petition,  which  he  had  partly  written  in  his  cell  before  leaving  the  gaol,  and  which  he  ca 
lied1  on  his  person  when  removed  to  the  penitentiary,  was  taken  from  him,  ano  all  facilities  ai 
opportunity  for  the  execution  of  his  purpose  were  denied  him. 

After  he  had  been  in  the  penitentiary  some  months,  however,  his  renewed  request  for  I 
manuscript  was  complied  with,  and  then  (as  a  notable  indulgence  for  exemplary  good  conduc 
he  was  not  prohibited  from  writing  at  such  rare  opportunities  as  he  could  glean  from  the  hou 
allotted  to  needful  rest  and  sleep.;  but  with  neither  time  nor  facilities  afforded  him  and  up. 
his  pledge  of  honor  that  when  the  petition  should  be  completed  it  snould  be  forthwith  deliver 
to  the  superintendent  without  letting  any  other  person,  without  lus  express  permission,  ev 
read  it.  Thus  hampered,  incommoded  and  restricted,  your  petitioner  has,  as  well  as  he  com 
proceeded  through  many  weary  months  in  the  preparation  of  his  petition  ;  sometimes  not  bei 
able  to  write  a  single  line  for  several  weeks,  and  nrely  ever  more  than  a  few  pages  at  a  tim 
sometimes  in  physical  pain,  and  always  with  anguish  of  spirit  ;  but  with  resolute  purpose,  nevi 
theless,  to  continue  the  task  to  its  completion.  .  .  ,  .  , 

And  he  had  completed  it,  or  nearly  so,  when,  some  weeks  ago,  he  learned  a  fact  which  ma 
rially  altered  the  aspect  of  certain  matters  connected  with  his  case. 

This  fact  was  that  Col.  Mayo,  through  whose  false  testimony  alone  your  petitioner  was  cc 
victerl — for  there  has  never  been  a  syllable  of  evidence  adduced  connecting  your  petitionei  w 
the  fact  alleged  to  be  a  forgery  of  a  public  record,  save  only  the  pretended  “  confession 
which  this  witness  falsely  deposed;  and  it  was  upon  that  charge  alone  your  petitioner  has  be 
tried,  was  convicted,  and  for  which  he  is  suffering  now  this  unjust  punishment— had  been  c 
charged  from  the  lunatic  asylum  of  which  he  had  been  an  inmate  since  your  petitioners  conv 
-  had  been  himself  indicted,  and  would  speedily  be  tried  for  the  alleged  larceny  a 

i  ll-  .  r  V  '  1-  . liorl  KuAn  fnrmPrlV  IlPf*! 


lion  : 


embezzlement  of  the  public  property  of  which  your  petitioner  had  been  formerly  accus 
Deeming  this  fact  important  to  the  interest  of  his  cause, -and  vaguely  apprehending  that  so 
advantage  might  be  taken  othis  imprisonment  and  enforced  silence  to  exculpate  Col.  Mayo  at  y 
petitioner  s  expense ,  he  humbly  besought  the  superintendent  for  and  obtained  permission  to  wi 
a  note  to  an  eminent  member  of  the  Richmond  bar,  formerly  a  friend  to  your  petitioner,  entre 
ing  him  for  his  advice.  This  eminent  lawyer,  (having  first  obtained  \  our  Excellency  s  kind  on 
directing  the  superintendent  to  allow  it,)  came  and  held  an  interview  with  your  petitioner.  1 
superintendent  kindly  permitting  it,  your  petitioner  exhibited  to  this  eminent  lawyer  the  petit 
he  had  prepared,  though  it  was  still  not  quite  complete.  After  the  reading  of  portions  of 
lie  advised  your  petitioner  to  finish  the  work  as  soon  as  .possible  and- let  it  be  at  once  submit 
to  Your  Excellency  ;  and  so  your  petitioner  determined  to  do. 

But,  a  few  days  after  this,  your  petitioner  was  informed  that  in  the  matter  of  the  prosecu! 
against  Col-.  Mayo,  a  jury  had  adjudged,  by  verdict,  that  he  is  now  still  insane,  and  that  he 
insane  during  the  whole  period,  dating  far  back  anterior  to  and  including  the  date  of  thealle 
larceny  and  embezzlement  of  the  public  property  for  which  .he  was  indicted,  and  embracing 
period  of  your  petitioner’s  trial,  when,  upon  his  false  deposition,  your  petitioner  was  convii 
of  a  crime  which  he  never  committed.  In  your  petitioner’s  apprehension  the  materiality  of 
new  development  could  not  be  over-valued;  for  it  was,  in  fine,  the  disclosure  and  establishm 
in  authentic  legal  form,  of  a  most  material  fact  hitherto  not  legally  affirmed  and  never  c 
suspected  by  the  jury  at  your  petitioner’s  trial,  which  altogether  altered  your  petitioner  s  c 
affording  abundant  legal  proof  {ox  demonstration  beyond  dispute  that  your  petitioner  is  n 
guilty  criminal,  but  the  unfortunate  victim  of  a  madman’s  vagaries. 

About  the  same  time  when  your  petitioner  learned  the  verdict  of  the  jury  affirming  J 
Col.  Mayo  is  and  was  insane,  he  was  informed  by  the  superintendent  that,  (at  the  request  of 
same  eminent  lawyer  whose  kindness  in  visiting  and  advising  your  petitioner  has  been  grate 
mentioned)  Your  Excellency  had  graciously  ordered  your  petitioners  exemption  from  labo 
two  days,  with  permission  to  employ  the  time  in  finishing  his  petition.  But  at  the  same 
your  petitioner  was  informed  that  Your  Excellency’s  public  engagements  are  such,  and  wil 
some  time  to  come  continue  to  be  such,  that  you  cannot  devote  that  time  and  attention  to 
petitioner’s  case  which  are  necessary  to  the  careful  reading  and  consideration  of  his  peti 
and  the  examination  of  the  proofs  which  accompany  it.  For  the  petition  is,  of  necessit 
unusually  long  one,  covering  over  six  hundred  pages.  »] 

But  every  hour  of  delay  to  consider  your  petitioner's  case  is  a  prolongation  of  the  hard 
and  humiliations  of  his  present  situation  which  if  Your  Excellency’s  engagements  perm 
you'.to  examine  the  proofs  lie  would  prove  to  you  ought  never  to  have  been  inflicted  on  h 
all.  In  view  therefore  of  this  exacerbating  fact,  and  with  the  hope  to  obtain  n  more  sf 


i 


91 


release  from  his  sufferings  by  presenting  his  case  in  such  a  shape  as  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
.  U1  Excellency  s  present  convenience,  and  thereby  merit  your  immediate  attention,  your  peti- 
tionei  has  used,  or  rather  is  now  using,  in  the  preparation  of  this  present  paper,  the  opportunity 
kindly  allowed  him  by  Your  Excellency’s  gracious  order  exempting  him  from  labor  for  two  days. 

-Briefly  now,  therefore,  if  Your  Excellency  please,  your  humble  petitioner  begs  leave  most 
humbly  to  submit  as  follows  : 

That,  whereas,  it  has  been  juridically  decided  that  Col.  Jos.  Mayo,  j r. ,  is  a  lunatic ,  and  that 
he  was  a  lunatic  long  before,  at  the  time  of,  and  has  been  ever  since  your  petitioner’s  trial ;  and, 
whereas,  it  is  well  known  to  Your  Excellency  that  the  said  Col.  Jos.  Mayo,  jr.  was  a  material 
witness  for  the  prosecution  against  your  petitioner,  and  that,  in  fact,  apart  from  his  deposition 
'vas  V0*’  a  w014  °f  evidence  adduced  by  which  your  petitioner  could  have  been  connected 
with  the  ciime  of  which  he  was  convicted,  and  for  which  he  is  now  suffering  a  degrading  punish- 
nent .  Now,  therefore,  that  these  facts  alone  afford  quite  sufficient  grounds  on  which  your  peti- 
lonei  may  confidently,  but  submissively,  beseech  Your  Excellency  for  pardon  and  liberation. 

All  of  which  will  appear  the  more  cogently  conclusive  in  the  light  of  further  facts  as 
ollows : 

Because,  no  hint  or  suggestion  of  this  witness’s  insanity  wras  given  to  the  jury  at  your  peti. 
loner’s  trial.  .  . 

Because,  no  conference  or  consultation  between  your  petitioner  and  his  counsel  hastily  sent 
rom  a  distance  having  been  held,  they  did  not  seek  to  impeach  this  witness’s  credibility  as  they 
wld  have  done,  for  the  reason  that  they  were  not  informed  that  his  testimony  was  false  as  they 
tould  have  been  had  they  obtained  your  petitioner’s  own  statement.  His  insanity ,  your  peti- 
oner  thinks,  would  likely  have  been  developed  at  his  examination  if  your  petitioner’s  counsel 
ad  exposed  the  falsehood  of  his  testimony,  as  they  could  have  done  had  they  been  in  possession 
f  the  real  facts.  r 

Because,  the  juridical  investigation  which  ascertained  this  witness’s  insanity  was  the  prelim- 
lary  step  to  his  own  trial  upon  an  indictment  against  him  for  the  one  crime,  to  conceal  which  could 
rve  been  the  only  motive  of  the  other  crime  of  which  your  petitioner  w'as  convicted  upon  his  testi- 
onv  ,  if,  theiefoie,  your  petitioner  was  guilty  of  anything  it  could  not  have  been  more  than  being 
Is  ^’COMPLICE.  Your  petitioner  is  advised  that  the  rules  of  evidence  exclude  the  testimony  of 
complices  unless  the  same  be  sustained  by  strong  corroborative  evidence.  In  this  case  there  was  no 
nvborative  evidence  whatever  and  this  witness’s  testimony,  therefor  t,  should  have  been  excluded 
nether  he  was  INSANE  or  not. 

Under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  Col.  Mayo  was‘allowed  to  testify  who  was 
mself  subsequently  indicted  for  the  real  crime,  whilst  your  petitioner  was  locked  up  in  p-aol, 
ule  to  hold  his  peace,  and  not  allowed  to  testify:  although,  if  guilty  of  anything,  it  coukf  not 
ssibly  have  been  more  than  being  Col.  Mayo’s  accomplice.  After  nearly  two  years  of  the  hard- 
ips  anc  degradations  of  penal  servitude  which  everybody  now  knows  to  have  been  unjust, 
cause  the  judgment  against  him  was  founded  solely  upon  the  testimony  of  a  madman,  your 
titioner  is  now  informed  that  there  is  no  proceeding  at  law  by  means  of  which  relief  may  be 
orded  him  through  the  process  of  any  judicial  tribunal  ;  and  that,  therefore,  relief  can  come  to 
“in  ,  er  way  than  by  the  exercise  in  his  behalf  of  the  great  and  munificent  pow'er  of  par- 
nng  which  the  people  of  Virginia  have  entrusted  to  Your  Excellency’s  discretion. 

1  O  the  end  that  this  blessed  relief  may  be  the  speedier  in  its  coming  ;  that  Your  Excellency 
jy  not  lave  to  wait  to  find  leisure  and  opportunity  to  examine  accumulated  proofs  and  demon- 
itions  of  the  monstrous  wrongs  your  petitioner  has  endured,  but  extend  your  gracious  hand  at 
H  e  tor  his  relief  your  petitioner  now  humbly  submits  this  epitome  of  his  case  in  lieu  of  the 
ie  lengthy  and  elaborate  memorial  of  which  mention  has  Jreen  made.  Herein  are  related 
s  enoug  i,  re  hopes  and  thinks,  to  incline  Your  Excellency  to  a  favorable  hearing  of  his 
yer  for  pardon  and  liberation.  ' 

\  our  petitionei  is  advised  that  if  Col.  Mayo  had  been  adjudged  a  lunatic  before  he  TESTIFIED, 

I  r  n’^u°pne7;  a  JUSt  COns.ideration  for  the  safety  of  society,  and  every  safe-guard  against 
iiallibduy  of  human  testimony  would  have  excluded  him  from  the  witness-stand.  Or  if  in  a 
ft t  interval,  he  had  been  allowed  to  testify  it  would  have  been  with  notice  to  the  jury  that  he 
su  ject  to  mental  alienations,  and  this  fact  would  have  been  a  material  matter  for  their  con¬ 
ation.  In  the  light  of  recent  developments  your  petitioner  would  humbly  ask  :  Do  not  the 
e  law,  the  same  propriety,  the  same  just  considerations  for  the  safety  of  society,  and  the 
6  safe-guards  against  the  fallibility  of  human  testimony  now  demand  that  the  enormous 
f-whmh  has  been  done  Jo  your  petitioner  through  Col.  Mayo’s  then  unsuspected  testimony 
Jcji r  ,be  redlessed*f  far  as  it  can  be  done,  in  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  done  now,  since 

I1nnrlCare  °b  b®f< fe  any  judlclal  tnbunal>  namely,  by  the  gracious  interposition  of 

111  if  v.  W.11C  i  ao,ds  tlje  munificent  power  to  pardon— a  sovereign  prerogative  which  the  peo- 
l>f  Virginia  have  delegated  to  Your  Excellency?  1 

j  To  Your  Excellency’s  sense  of  justice,  therefore,  your  petitioner  would  appeal  as  well  as 


92 


to  the  sentiment  of  mercy  nnd  human  kindness  which  no  doubt,  inspire  you r  heart  when  exerci 
ing  your  high  power  as  a  Ruler  into  whose  hands  fortune  has  committed  the  fate  of  a  fello 
creature. 

In  conclusion,  your  petitioner  deems  it  only  proper  (and  due  to  himself,  indeed,)  to  say  th 
he  harbors  no  bitter  feeling  against  the  witness  through  whose  false  testimony  he  has  been  mai 
to  suffer  so  much  wrong.  Your  petitionei’s  view  is,  and  has  been  all  along  as  follows  :  At  tl 
time  when  this  unfortunate  gentleman  thus  talsely  testified  he  was  then  insane  or  he  was  ni 
If  he  was  insane ,  that  fact  covers  him  with  the  panoply  of  moral  irresponsibility  which  exemp 
him  from  accountability  to  God  and  consecrates  him  against  the  animosities  of  all  mankind, 
lie  was  not  then  insane  it  is  certain  that  his  insanity  must  have  succeeded  his  false-swearing  wi 
the  promptness  of  a  judgment  from  Heaven  itself,  and  in  view  of  it  your  petitioner  and  eve 
human  creature  can  only  bow  in  Solemn  awe  as  in  the  manifested  presence  of  the  omniscient  Just, 
v,  hose  Arm  is  not  shortened,  and  whose  Hand  is  as  omnipotent  now  as  it  was  when,  in  H 
Wrath,  it  fell  upon  Ananias  and  Sapphira. 

Finally,  it  is  a  heart-sickening  reflection  to  your  petitioner  that,  no  matter  how  kindly  01 
Excellency  may  be  disposed  towards  him,  it  is  not  in  your  power  to  afford  a  full  measure 
redress  for  all  the  wretchedness  he  has  been  made  to  suffer  so  unjustly — and  is  still  suffering.  1 
the  best  it  is  only  in  Your  Excellency’s  power  to  remit  the  remainder  of  the  punishment  to  whii 
your  petitioner  has  been  sentenced  and  restore  him  to  liberty  at  once.  It  is  not  in  the  scope 
executive  c  emency,  nor  in  any  earthly  power,  to  blot  out  even  from  his  own  remembrance  t! 
weary  days  and  nights  your  petitioner  has  passed  in  the  misery  and  wretchedness  of  a  convici 
life  ;  —nor  to  shed  light  for  the'  future  upon  the  night  of  sorrow  and  the  impenetrable  gloo 
which  attend  a  career  that  has  failed  ! 

The  boon  of  personal  liberty  which  your  petitioner  craves  at  Your  Excellency's  hand  canon 
enable  him  to  re-enter  the  arena  of  life  cast  down  bv  clinging  memories  of  once  promisii 
prospects  and  harassed  by  humiliating  reminders  of  fortune’s  catastrophe.  At  the  best  his  futu 
this  side  the  grave  will  still  be  fraught  with  the  curse  of  a  blighted  career,  and  the  sorrow!' 
but  unavailing,  yearnings  of  a  life  which  his  own  follies  have  wrecked  before  accomplishing  a, 
good  in  the  world;  and  he  can  only  hope  for  that  tranquillity  which  is  the  happiness  of  t 
numblest  station.  .  > 

Yet,  there  are  duties  in  life  which  he  feels  that  he  owes  to  those  who  hold  to  him  by  the  t 
of  consanguinity  and  affection  ;  and  it  is  for  their  sake — especially  his  aged  parents  whose  sp 
„f  life  is  fast  drawing  to  a  close — it  is  for  them  and  in  their  name ,  no  less  than  his  own,  that  yc 
humble  petitioner  now  submits  this  humble  petition  that  Your  Excellency  w81  exercise  for 
pardon  and  liberation  the  sovereign  clemency  oj  the  People  OF  V IRGINIA. 

And  your  petitioner,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray,  etc.,  etc 

WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN 

This  petition  was  duly  submitted  to  Gov.  Kemper,  for  me,  by  Hon.  Jair 
Lyons  and  Jo.  Lane  Stern,  Esq.  At,  or  about,  the  same  time  there  were  a! 
presented  to  him  several  petitions  in  my  favor,  numerously  signed  by  the  peoj 
of  Richmond,  and  of  Danville,  and  of  Pittsylvania  county.  I  have  been  to 
too,  that  distinguished  gentlemen  in  various  parts  of  the  state  wrote  letters  to  hi 
unsolicited,  in  my  behalf.  He  referred  the  petition  to  Judge  L>uigon,  who  kt 
it  for  some  days  and  then  returned  it  with  an  argument  against  it.  As  I  had  ; 
sailed  the  summary  proceedings  ol  the  court  by  which  my  conviction  was  ma 
possible,  it  was  but  natural  that  Judge  Guigon  should  seek  to  justify  his  action 
v  ie  premises — and  this,  I  think  I  may  be  allowed  to  believe,  was  expected  by 
shrewd  a  lawyer  as  Gov.  Kemper.  Upon  this  argument  of  Judge  Guigon  ( 
seemingly  so)  the  governor  decided  against  me,  and  on  the  ist  oi  January  18 
rejected  my  petition.  On  rejecting  it,  he  allowed  the  newspaper  reporters 
publish  a  lengthy  paper  purporting  to  be  his  “  reasons  therefor  ;  and,  as  ii 
turtify  the  same,  he  allowed  them  to  publish,  also,  the  prosecuting  judge  s  art 
ment  against  me. 

Now,  the  constitution,  while  clothing  the  executive  with  the  munificent  povl 
of  pardoning,  takes  care  to  protect  society  against  its  improper  exercise  by  g 
qmring  that  in  each  case  in  which  the  governor  exercises  this  power  he  sl« 
transmit  to  the  legislature  a  statement  ol  the  case.  But  no  such  requirement 
made  in  case  of  refusal  to  exercise  the  power  ;  because,  it  was  never  dr  earn 


93 


iat  any  governor  would  ever  refuse  a  meritorious  case,  especially  when  demand- 
i  by  the  general  public  sentiment.  And  this  was  the  first  time,  I  believe,  in  the 
story  of  the  commonwealth  that  any  governor  ever  undertook,  by  an  ex  parte 
abdication,  in  the  public  prints,  to  inspire  public  sentiment  against  a  helpless 
jisoner. 

On  being  informed  of  this  publication,  I  ^ot  Mr.  Stern  to  go  to  Gov.  Kemper 
id  ask  that  the  text  of  my  petition  might  also  be  published  ;  for,  as  everything 
at  could  be  said  against  me  had  been  published,  I  thought  it  only  fair  that  what 
,uld  be  said  in  my  favor  should  be  published,  also.  But  in  reply  to  this  reasona- 
i  request  only  a  wrathful  refusal  was  returned.  With  the  hope  to  remove  the 
easons  ”  on  which  my  first  petition  had  been  rejected,  I  then  prepared  another, 
aposing  certain  conditions  as  the  basis  for  the  governor’s  favorable  action  in  my 
lalf.  At  my  request  this  was  submitted  to  <  lov.  Kemper  by  Hon.  James  Lyons, 
'.  Stern  being  absent  from  Richmond  just  then,  as  1  was  told.  The  following 
i  copy  of  this  second  petition  in  which  the  proposed  conditions  are  fully  stated  : 


PETITION  OF  WILLIAM  D  COLEMAN. 

-FOR- 

-LIBERATION  UPON  CERTAIN  SPECIFIED  CONDITIONS.- 


ilis  Excellency, 

James  L.  Kemper, 

Governor  of  Virginia. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

The  purpose  of  the  present  paper  is  to  represent 


* 

that 


upon  reading  Your  Excellency’s 
U|  shed  reasons  for  refusing  your  petitioner’s  relief,  it  appeared  to  him  that  there  is  a  practical 
eding  by  which  the  difficulties  in  the  case  may  all  be  obviated  ;  and  this  he  wishes  to  pro- 
and  pray  for  its  adoption. 

four  Excellency  affirms  as  follows  :  “  Stripped  of  all  technicalities,  the  punishment  of  the 

iIa|  oner  must  be  considered  as  resulting  from  the  larceny  of  public  funds,  in  conned  ion  with 
B  alteration  of  an  official  record,  alleged  to  have  been  done  and  designed  to  conceal  the 
eny.  No  attempt  will  ever  be  made  to  renew  the  indictment  for  that  larceny  ;  but  if  this 
e  not  so,  and  if  any  additional  sentence  were  procured  in  the  premises,  the  Executive  would 
nptly  irterpose  the  pardoning  power  to  arrest  it.” 

'our  petitioner,  therefore,  is  now  given  to  understand  that  he  is  undergoing  punishment  for 
leged  offences,  which  by  statute  are  classified  as  separate  crimes  of  different  degrees  of 
y,  namely,  larceny  and  forgery  ;  of  which  the  former  is  the  graver.  Your  petitioner  aver* 
dthough  he  was  indeed,  indicted  for  both,  he  has,  as  yet,  been  tried  for  the  latter  only.  Your 
lency  must  be  well  aware  that  in  any  criminal  prosecution,' whatever  else  the  evidt  nee  may 
o  prove  that  the  accused  person  may  have  committed,  whether  it  be  treason,  murder,  arson, 
eny,  he  may  not  lawfully  be  punished,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for  anything  else  than 
s  charged  in  the  indictment  on  which  he  is  tried,  uniil  he  shall  have  been  duly  tried  and 
ted  of  that  something  else  also.  If  this  were  not  so,  a  person  might  be  convicted  of 
If  and  hanged  for  murder  without  being  tried  for  murder. 
uigCisHi  =>ur  petitioner  has  now  served  out  more  than  half  the  term  of  imprisonment  for  his  punish- 
lJtV]lpy  the  jury  at  his  trial  in  their  verdict  ascertained.  If  the  two  crimes  were  of  equal 
‘  surely  it  would  be  conceded  that  he  has  expiated  the  alleged  forgery,  even  if  guilty  of 
/  J  the  alleged  larceny  is  the  graver  crime,  and  the  alleged  forgery,  therefore,  has  been  over- 
id.  :,!P  d.  The  remainder  of  his  punishment  must,  therefore,  be  solely  on  jccount  of  the  alleged 
ge’s  :t  °f  public  funds.  But  he  has  never  been  even  arraigned  for  this  alleged  crime,  much 
i  t  lvicted  of  it,  and,  therefore,  his  punishment  for  it  is  altogether  unlawful. 

,,  uctically,  Your  Excellency  knows  that  aftei  your  petitioner  shall  have  served  out  his 
‘  term  of  imprisonment,  if  he  is  in  reality  guilty  rf  the  alleged  larceny  of  public  funds, 
Clit®  then  ue  tried,  convicted,  and  punished  lor  it.  Your  Excellency  has,  indeed,  suggested 
»r  he|  10  attempt  will  ever  be  made  to  renew  the,  indictment  for  that  larceny;”  but  Your 


eie 
:p* 
;enl 
to 
itio1 
i  had 
as  n 
aett 
ted 


■er  die 


e  ncy  will,  no  doubt,  admit  that  that  depends  upon  the  views  of  the  grand  jury  and  the 
fiy  for  the  commonwealth:  They  may  think  that  if  there  be  probable  cause  to  believe 


94 


that  a  person  has  committed  a  crime  for  which  he  has  never  been  tried,  he  ought  to  be  pr< 
cuted  and,  if  guilty,  punished  for  it.  Your  Excellency  has,  indeed,  virtually  promised  that 
“  any  additional  sentence  were  procured  in  the  premises,  the  Executive  would  promptly  interp 
the  pardoning  power  to  arrest  it ;  ”  but  if  Your  Excellency  will  compute  the  time,  you  will 
that  your  term  of  office  will  have  expired  before  you  will  have  an  opportunity,  in  that  even! 
interpose  the  pardoning  power:  Your  successor  may  not  entertain  Your  Excellency’s  vie 
if  a  jury  deny  the  plea  of  autrefois  convict ,  the  governor  might  feel  hardly  justified  in  pardor 
on  the  grounds  of  prior  punishment. 

Moreover  and  especially,  suppose  your  petitioner,  after  serving  out  his  present  term  of 
prisoument,  shall  be  then  tried  for  the  Alleged  larceny  of  public  funds,  as  he  certainly  may 
and  suppose  he  should  be  acquitted ,  as  he  has  no  doubt  he  would  be  .  What  remedy  woulc 
have  fox  this  then  proven  unjust  punishment  ? 

Your  petitioner  infers  that  he  need  not  hope  to  change  Your  Excellency’s  conclusion  nc 
pardon  him  upon  the  grounds  assigned  in  his  said  rejected  petition  ;  but  the  measure  of  re 
for  which  he  now  entreats  Your  Excellency  will  not  contravene  that  conclusion,  and  he  tr 
will  obviate  Your  Excellency’s  objections.  It  is  as  follows: 

Your  petitioner  now  humbly  prays  Your  Excellency  to  pardon  him  UPON  the  condition 
he  faiisirit/i  submit  himself  to  the  officei's  of  the  law,  duly  to  he  tried  and  lawfully  dealt  with  fen 
alleged  larceny  of  public  funds. 

It  would  be  but  only  just  to  stipulate  that  the  same  indictment  against  your  petitioner 
the  alleged  larceny,  should  be  renewed,  totidem  verbis,  which  was  pending  at  the  time  of  his 
for  the  alleged  forgery.  But  such  a  stipulation  would  reduce  the  proposed  condition  of  his  pai 
to  ft  nullity  ;  because,  as  Your  Excellency  will  be,  no  doubt,  convinced  if  you  will  only  rear 
said  indictment  in  the  light  of  facts  now  generally  known,  no  grand  jury  now  could  be  prevt 
upon  to  r*turn  that  indictment  “a  true  bill.” 

By  two  years  of  penal  servitude  your  petitioner  has  fully  expiated  the  alleged  forgery,  < 
if  gailty  of  it ;  although  he  would  not  have  been  convicted,  as  Judge  Guigon  has  duly  infor 
Your  Excellency,  “  in  the  absence  of  Mayo’s  testimony  ;  ”  and  Mayo  was  not  prosecuted  bee 
he  was  proven  insane — one  of  the  evidences  of  his  insanity  being,  as  Gen.  Johnson  testi 
that  he  was,  at,  or  about,  the  period  of  your  petitioner’s  trial  “  incapable  of  making  a  statei 
of  facts.” 

And  now  your  petitioner  only  asks  that  Your  Excellency  will  interpose  your  high  and 
nificent  power  of  pardoning  for  his  relief  from  the  further  infliction  of  this  punishment  on  act 
of  the  alleged  larceny  of  public  funds,  until  he  shall  have  been  duly  tried  and  lawfully  corn- 
of  that  alleged  offence.  He  only  asks,  in  all  good  faith,  that  he  may  have  a  fair  trial  upor 
real  substance  of  the  charge  that  he  has  s'olen  funds  belonging  to  the  state,  before  being  fu 
punished  for  that  alleged  offence.  He  only  desires  substantial  justice  and  humbly  prays 
Excellency  to  accord  it. 

And  your  petitioner,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray,  etc.,  etc. 

WILLIAM  D.  COLEMA 

A  few  weeks  after  this  petition  was  submitted  to  Gov.  Kemper,  I  was  infor 
that  he  would  not  favor  it.  Mr.  Stern  came  to  see  me  and  told  me  that  in  a 
terview  he  had  just  had  with  Gov.  Kemper,  he  had  suggested  to  him  to  with* 
this  petition  and  held  out  the  intimation  that  if  this  were  done  he  would  fat 
bly  entertain  a  new  proposition  for  my  relief.  By  Mr.  Stern’s  advice  I  const 
to  its  withdrawal.  On  obtaining  possession  of  it  afterwards  I  found  it  end( 
as  follows : 

“  Governor’s  Office,  21st  Eebruary,  il 

“  Respectfully  referred  to  Judge  A.  B.  Guigon.  While  I  am  reluctant  to  trouble 
Guigon  again  with  this  matter,  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  this  petition  to  renew  the  proceedii 
the  premises  in  his  court  should  be  examined  by  him.  I  can  see  no  proper  ground  shov 
executive  clemency  unless  Judge  Guigon  can  suggest  it. 

J.  I..  KEMPE 

“  Hustings  Court,  February  21st,  1 

"Of  course  I  do  not  propose  to  try  Coleman  again,  and  can  only  account  for  his 
proposition  by  the  fact,  natural  enough  in  his  circumstances,  that,  in  brooding  over  his  case 
the  weary  days  and  nights  of  his  imprisonment,  his  imagination  gets  the  better  of  his  cc 
sense.  Very  respectfully, 


A.  B.  GUIG 


Now,  I  respectfully  submit  it  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  or  to  any  other  fair-minded 
an,  that  the  “  common  sense  ”  which  this  proposition  contained  was  the  very 
aracteristic  of  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  my  “  imagination  ”  if  at  all  at  fault  was 
ily  so  in  respect  of  attributing  to  Gov.  Kemper  sincerity  in  assigning  his  pub- 
hed  reasons  for  rejecting  my  first  petition  ! 

A  number  of  visits  were  paid  me  by  Mr.  Stern  while  Mr.  Lyons  and  he  were 
ting  for  me  in  the  presentation  of  my  case  to  Gov.. Kemper,  and  in  one  of  these 
;its  he  asked  me  to  explain  an  incident  which  he  related  but  did  not  understand, 
p  said  that  Mr.  S.  Sprigg  Campbell  had  procured  a  number  of  signatures  to  a 
commendation  to  the  governor  in  my  behalf,  but  had  come  to  him  afterwards 
desired  to  withdraw  the  same,  alleging  as  his  reason  that  he  had  heard  that, 

imnn  a/I  if  hia  a  ■»  r  i-A  ((  _ _ _ J  >  )  / _ 1.  .  _ _  1  '  .  X  1  1  • 


leased,  it  was  my  purpose  to  “  throw  mud  ”  (as  he  expressed  it)  by  making 
ications  through  the  newspapers.  I  told  Mr.  Stern  that  I  knew  no  explana- 


unless  it  was  that  I  had  said  that  I  intended  to  publish  all  the  facts  as  soon 


V. 


--  - - - - - - —  - - -  WH.  /  tvtro  CIO  ouun 

could,  and  Mr.  Campbell  might  have  heard  that  I  had  said  so,  and  knew  that 
ong  the  facts  were  the  exchanges  of  “  consols  ”  for  “  peelers  ”  in  which  he  had 
ticipated.  At  Mr.  Stern’s  request,  J  then  related  the  particulars  of  these  ex- 
„  ;•  He  was  very  attentive  and  I  afterwards  remembered  that  he  said  this 
the  most  interesting  interview  he  had  ever  had  with  me. 

For  some  time  after  this  Mr.  Stern  continued  to  visit  me,  at  intervals.  He  had 
eral  interviews  with  Gov.  Kemper  and  generally  communicated  to  me  the 
stance  of  what  passed  during  the  same.  In  one  of  his  visits  he  told  me  that 
had  given  Gov.  Kemper  an  intimation  of  what  I  had  related  to  him  touching 
exchanges  of  “  consols  ’  lor  “  peelers,’  and  that  the  governor  had  shown  an 
erness  to  hear  the  particulars,  and  had  hinted  that  he  would  pardon  me  if  I 
ild  make  them  known  ;  his  idea  being,  as  I  understood  from  Mr.  Stern,  that 
ould  lead  to  the  implication  of  certain  parties.  Mr.  Stern  urged  me  to  make 
revelation  and  counselled  me  that  by  that  means  I  could  obtain  release  from 
cn,  and  in  his  opinion  by  no  other  means.  When  he  told  me  that  he  had 
Gov.  Kemper  this  intimation  about  the  “  exchanges  ”  of  “  consels  ”  for 
elers,”  I  was  surprised,  because,  when  I  told  him  of  them,  it  was  with  no 
that  he  would  repeat  it  to  anybody.  My  idea  in  telling  him  was  to  give  him 
}nly  explanation  I  could  conceive  for  Mr.  Campbell’s  remarkable  conduct 
rds  me  in  the  instance  of  which  he  (Mr.  Stern)  had  informed  me  ;  although 
ended  to  publish  all  the  facts  myself  whenever  I  was  at  liberty  to  do  so.  But 
when  he  informed  me  that  he  had  given  Gov.  Kemper  this,  intimation  and 
■rted  me  to  make  the  revelation  as  suggested  by  the  governor,  in  order  to 
n  my  release,  although  surprised,  I  listened  attentively  and  considered  his 
ments  carefully.  And  then  I  absolutely  refused  to  do  anything  of  the 


A  But  Mr.  Stern  renewed  his  exhortations  with  further  arguments;  and  then  I 
Witiid  to  take  the  subject  under  maturer  consideration,  still  telling  him,  however, 


ait  was  altogether  averse  to  the  idea,  and  that  I  did ’not  believe  it  would  ac- 
EMi|lish  anything.  I  knew,  indeed,  that  there  was  nothing  criminal  in  these 
Hjhanges  ’  of  consols  ”  tor  “  peelers,”  and  that  my  evidence  about  them 

Jl  not  tend  to  eliminate  the  particular  parties  whom  I  believed  the  governor 
ially  desired  to  see  implicated. 

>hortly  after  this,  I  was  visited  by  several  members  of  the  legislature,  former 
s  of  mine,  several  of  whom  told  me  that  they  were  on  intimate  terms  with 
■Kemper,  and  had  repeatedly  approached  him  in  my  behalf,  but  always  in 
t,G  n  One  of  these  gentlemen  now  told  me  that  Gov.  Kemper  had  informed  him 
v  it  Mr.  Stern  had  intimated,  as  mentioned  above,  and  urged  me  to  make  the 
a.  :1  revelation.  He  gave  me  a  graphic  account  of  an  interview  he  had  had 


96 


with  the  governor  in  which  the  latter  introduced  the  subject,  stated  what 
Stern  had  told  him,  and  added  that  “  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  get  sotm 
these  respectable  gentlemen  and  arraign  them  in  a  criminal  court,”  or  word: 
that  effect.  From  this  eagerness  of  the  governor  I  was  advised  that  complia 
with  ftis  suggestion  would  certainly  secure  my  release.  I  replied  that  1  was  s 
the  governor  had  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  information  I  could  give  ;  that  I  ! 
committed  no  crime  myself  and  therefore  could  not  implicate  an}  body  else  as 
accomplices  in  any  crime.  The  only  crime  I  could  prove  was  that  of  perj 
which  had  been  committed  at  my  trial,  but  not  by  the  parties  to  whom  G 
Kemper  was  probably  referring. 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  Stern  came  to  me  again  and  renewed  his  exhortations 
comply  with  the  govern  >r's  suggestion  ;  informing  me,  too.  that  Mr.  Lyons  s 
me  the  same  counsel.  Thus  prevailed  upon,  1  agreed  to  make  an  effort  in 
direction  indicated,  and  gave  Mr.  Stern  my  views  as  to  the  manner  of  making 
He  went  then,  at  my  request,  to  consult  Mr.  Lyons  on  the  subject.  The  next  < 
Mr.  Lyons  sent  me  the  draft  of  a  petition  to  the  governor  prepared  in  accorda 
with  my  views  as  communicated  to  him  by  Mr.  Stern.  1  transcribed  the  sa 
signed  it,  and  returned  it  to  Mr.  Lyons  to  be  submitted  to  the  governor.  ' 
following  is  a  copy  of  it : 

WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN’S  THIRD  PETITION.  * 


To  His  Excellency,  i 

Jas.  L.  Kemper,  v 

Governor  of  Virginia,  j 
Sir :  , 

The  petition  of  William  D.  Coleman  resp  ctfully  sheweth  that  he  is  now  in  the  peniten 
Virginia,  under  a  verdict  and  judgment  of  the  hust'ngs  court  of  the  city  of  Richm 
<pon  indictment  charging  him  with  the  forgery  of  a  certain  book  which  has  been  adjudge 
be  a  public  record.  In  point  of  fact,  your  petitioner  was  guiltless  of  the  offence  of  whic 
was  charged,  and  yet  he  was  found  guilty  of  it.  His  case  presents  several  remarkable  feat 
but  the  most  remarkable  is  that  if  he  was  guilty  of  any  offence  at  all  he  was  the  accompli 
Jos.  Mayo,  the  then  treasurer  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  who  is  now  at  large  am 
never  been  tried,  having  been  found,  according  to  law,  upon  his  arraignment,  to  have  b< 
lunatic  at  the  time  the  alleged  offence  was  committed,  and,  indeed,  during  his  whole  ter 
treasurer  of  V  irginia  ;  and  has  been  committed  to  the  supervising  care  of  his  father. 

While  your  petitioner  does  not  mean  to  make  any  imputations  upon  the  court  or  conns 
tfce  cause,  he  is  yet  constrained  to  say  that  if  his  case  had  been  fairly  and  fully  presented  t 
jury  who  tried  him  he  must  have  been  acquitted,  for  he  can  demonstrate  his  innocence  t< 
tribunal. 

The  next  remarkable  feature  of  his  case  is  that  he  was  convicted  upon  the  testimony  c 
treasurer,  who  has  since  been  adjudged  to  have  been  a  lunatic.  It  is  true  that  the  court  dc 
•pon  the  testimony  then  offered  upon  the  competency  of  the  witness  that  the  witness  was 
but  your  petitioner  is  advised  and  i  isists  that  under  the  law  of  Virginia  which  directs  that 
•h1-  defence  of  insanity  is  set  up  for  a  party  charged  with  a  crime,  he  shall  be  tried  upo 
question  of  lunacy  before  a  special  jury,  and,  if  found  to  be  a  lunatic,  d  scharged  from  all  f 
cut  ion,  and  therefore  the  judgment  of  the  court  affirming  that  Mayo  was  sane  and  not  a  lti 
is  incorrect  and  was  not  properly  rendered,  because  Mayo  was  under  indictment  at  the  tin 
Anal  judgment  was  rendered  against  your  petitioner,  and  therefore  his  sanity  should  not 
been  tried  as  an  ordinary  question  of  competency  is  tried,  but  the  special  jury  which  did  ti 
question  of  Mayo's  sanity,  or  some  other,  shoul  1  have  been  empannelled  to  try  that  que 
and  if  that  had  been  done  the  result  has  shown  that  your  petitioner  would  not  now  be 
penitentiary. 

As  the  case  now  stands,  your  petitioner  is  now  in  confinement  by  force  of  the  testimr 
a  man  who  has  been  adjudged  by  an  irreversible  sentence  to  have  been  a  lunatic  at  the  tit 
testified  against  your  petitioner. 

1  his  cannot  be  the  law,  or  if  it  is,  it  ought  not  to  be,  for  it  is  not  the  law  in  any  othe 
that  a  lunatic  shall  be  a  competent  witness  to  convict  any  man  of  crime  ;  but  your  petitic 
without  redress  except  in  the  clemency  of  tho  executive,  and  therefore;  having  now  served 


97 


cemplary  manner,  for  a  time  longer  than  the  minimum  confinement  fixed  by  law  to  his  imputed 
rime,  he  prays  that  he  may  be  pardoned  ;  aud  when  his  capacity  to  testify  is  restored  he  will 
|ll  fully  and  freely  and  truly  all  that  he  knows  about  the  alleged  robbery  of  the  treasury  or  the 
jnbezzlement  of  its  funds,  protesting  as  he  does  that  he  has  never  pocketed  a  dollar  of  the 
(lblic  money. 

1  And  your  petitioner,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray  etc.,  etc. 

WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN. 

Subsequently,  I  was  informed  that  this  petition  was  submitted  to  Gov.  Kemper, 
lltt  received  no  consideration,  and  the  subject  was  dropped  for  a  time. 

Several  weeks  afterwards,  however,  Mr.  Stern  came  to  see  me  again,  mani- 
sting  a  warm  interest  to  obtain  my  release  from  prison  ;  as,  indeed,  he  and  Mr. 
sf/ons  had  done  all  along.  He  was  aware  of  the  extremely  distressing  nature  of 
'fy  situation,  and  was  sanguine  that  I  would  be  relieved  if  I  would  comply  with 
'Ste  suggestion  Gov.  Kemper  had  made  to  him  and  he  had  repeated  to  me.  He 
t(jterefore  again  exhorted  me  to  make  “  a  full  statement,”  as  suggested  by  the 
i'lvernor,  of  everything  I  knew  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  and 
Hsmed  so  confident  that  it  would  secure  my  release  that  I  yielded  to  his  persua- 
|ns.  He  had  informed  me  that  Gov.  Kemper’s  suggestion  was  that  I  should 
jite  out  the  “  full  statement  ”  indicated  and  send  it  to  him,  or  make  it  to  the 
orney  for  the  commonwealth  for  Richmond  city,  or  to  the  judge  of  the  hustings 
irt.  In  my  opinion,  it  was  most  proper  to  make  it  to  the  attorney  for  the  corn- 
nwealth,  and  so  informed  Mr.  Stern.  It  was  accordingly  so  agreed. 

The  next  day,  I  think  it  was,  certainly  not  more  than  a  day  or  two  later,  Mr. 
Carrington  Cabell,  then  the  attorney  for  the  commonwealth  for  Richmond  city, 
re  to  see  me  ;  having  been  requested  to  do  so  by  Mr.  Stern.  I  offered  to 
ke  the  desired  communication  to  Mr.  Cabell,  then  and  there,  orally  ;  or  to 
;ick  ite  it  oat,  as  he  preferred.  He  said  he  preferred  to  have  it  written  out.  I  agreed 
rtflo  it  at  once,  and  he  then  terminated  the  interview,  which  did  not  last  as  long 
en  minutes.  Before  leaving  me,  Mr  Cabell  told  me  that  the  communication  I 
d  make  to  him,  would  be  received  by  him  as  confidential.  My  expectation 
that  he  would  examine  my  communication  and  advise  the  governor  whether 
ardon  me  upon  it  or  not.  If  pardoned  it  would  be  proper  to  publish  my 
ment ;  but  if  not  pardoned  I  had  no  idea  that  the  least  publicity  would  be 
n  to- the  subject.  With  this  understanding  I  wrote  out  and  sent  to  Mr.  Cabell, 
ugh  Messrs.  Lyons  and  Stern,  in  confidence,  a  statement  embracing  the 
rial  facts  in  my  knowledge  touching  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund  ;  the  said 
ment  being  made,  in  great  part,  in  the  same  language  in  which  I  have  stated 
ame  facts  hereinbefore  in  this  communication  to  you,  Mr.  Wise.  I  also  sent 
a  statement,  in  the  nature  of  a  lawyer’s  brief,  pointing  out  the  untruthfulness 
ie  second  auditor’s  testimony  at  my  trial,  just  as  I  have  exposed  the  same 
linbefore.  Along  with  these  I  also  sent  the  original  of  the  account  current 
-red  me  by  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.,  (a  copy  of  which  is  printed 
Jfenbefore,  at  page  1 1 ,)  and  also  a  letter  and  several  notes  to  me  referring  to 
ransactions  between  that  firm  and  myself  touching  the  affairs  of  the  sinking 


Ail 
efa 
MiplS 
«ean 
me 
)!t  tel 

i  cm® 

entedl 

cencel 

,inon| 
court  It 
iess  vs! 
:cts 

iriet  , 
irom  a" 
i  not 


ythatq*  As  I  had  made  my  communication  to  Mr.  Cabell  in  confidence,  I  was  very 
t  surprised  a  few  weeks  later  to  learn  that  the  matter  had  been  mentioned  in 


I  r 

e  mblic 


newspapers  (which  I  was  not  permitted  to  see)  and  had  occasioned 


niny 
your  pw 


[jierable  scandal  in  Richmond.  I  was  told  by  a  friend  that  it  was  spoken  of  in 
ichmond  Eyiqziirer  (of  which  I  had  formerly  been,  for  nearly  four  years,  the 
r)  as  “  Coleman’s  confession  ” — that  phraseology  being  employed,  in  my 
lf>n,  to  convey  to  the  public  an  idea  upon  the  subject  exceedingly  unfavorable 
and  atrociously  unjust. 


98 


Some  weeks  afterwards  Mr.  Stern  came  and  told  me  that  this  effort  for 
release  had  failed,  and  confessed  that  my  judgment  as  to  the  governor’s  disp 
tion  towards  me  (as  I  had  expressed  it  to  him)  was  more  correct  than  his.  I  : 
that  Mr.  Stern  had  been  deceived  in  the  hopes  held  out  to  him  for  me,  and  t 
him  that  I  believed  the  object  had  been  to  injure  me  in  public  opinion, 
assured  me  that  both  he  and  Mr.  Lyons  had  kept  the  matter  entirely  secret,  ; 
were  surprised,  as  I  was,  at  the  publicity  given  it.  At  my  request  Mr.  Stern  t 
promised  to  get  all  the  papers  back  from  Mr.  Cabell,  which  I  had  sent  him. 
was,  however,  more  than  a  month  after  this  before  he  succeeded  in  getting  tl 
back,  and  when  he  brought  them  to  me  the  letters  and  notes  referring  to 
transactions  between  Messrs.  Parker  Campbell  &  Co.  and  myself  were  miss 
Mr.  Stern  said  that  he  had  learned  that  all  the  papers  after  being  examined 
Mr.  Cabell,  had  been  in  Gov.  Kemper’s  hands  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  in  Ju 
Guigon’s.  On  applying  to  the  latter  for  them  he  was  told  that  they  had  h 
mislaid  but  would  be  “  hunted  up.”  When,  after  numerous  applications,  Ju 
Guigon  gave  them  to  him,  the  letter  and  notes  had  disappeared  and  could  no 
produced. 

On  getting  these  papers  back  I  asked  Mr.  Stern  to  take  them  and,  toge 
with  the  petitions,  I  had  sent  Gov.  Kemper,  (of  which  Messrs.  Lyons  and  St 
as  my  counsel,  had  copies),  give  them  to  the  newpapers  for  publication  in 
I  wanted  the  public  to  know  all  the  facts  and  considered  that  I  had  the  righ 
make  them  known  through  my  legal  counsel.  But  Mr.  Stern  said  his  pers 
relations  with  the  governor  were  very  pleasant  and  might  be  disturbed  were  1 
make  the  publication  I  desired.  I  made  no  further  request  and  never  saw 
Stern  any  more  until  after  my  release  from  prison. 

Towards  the  cloe  of  the  year  1876,  after  I  had  endured  the  misery 
wretchedness  of  my  imprisonment  two  long  years  and  a  half,  I  conceived 
idea  of  making  one  more  effort  for  relief  by  craving  a  personal  interview 
Gov.  Kemper  to  present  my  case  to  him  myself;  for  I  fancied  that  face  to  1 
could  convince  him  that  justice  and  fairness  demanded  my  release.  He  hac 
granted  personal  interviews  to  other  prisoners,  even  visiting  the  prison  hit 
for  the  purpose,  and  I  hoped  he  would  not  deny  me  what  he  had  permitti 
others.  Accordingly,  through  the  acting  superintendent  of  the  prison,  I  aske 
writing,  the  favor  of  such  an  interview.  But  Gov.  Kemper  refused  to  perm 
to  see  him.  I  was,  however,  graciously  permitted  to  write  him  a  letter  ;  am 
following  is  a  copy  of  it : 


LETTER  FROM- WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN  TO  GOV.  KEMP 


The  Penitentiary, 

Richmond,  October  31st,  1 

His  Excellency,  The  Governor.  . 

Sir  : — The  acting  superintendent  of  the  pen  tentiary  has  notified  me  that,  on  yesterc 
delivered  a  note  which,  some  weeks  since,  I  was  permitted  to  write  begging  to  be  alio 
appear  in  person  before  Your  Excellency  in  my  own  behalf.  He  informed  me  that  ^  ou* 
lency  said  that  public  engagements  will  not  allow  of  your  giving  the  desired  permission,  b 
I  may  reduce  what  I  have  to  say  to  writing  and  it  will  be  considered. 

In  praying  for  a  hearing  viva  voce,  my  idea  was  that  ihere  might  be  some  points  in  1 
have  to  say  on  which  it  might  be  Your  Excellency’s  pleasure  to  hear  the  details,  and  I  con 
that  I  could  state  them  in  that  manner  most  readily  and  satisfactorily,  catechetically. 
gladly  and  gratefully  embrace  the  permission  to  write  and,  with  a  hope  of  a  favorable 
now  humbly  beg  Your  Excellency’s  consideration  hereof.  ( 

At  the  outset,  I  deem  it  due  to  that  ingenuous  frankness  which  I  mean  to  manifest 
have  to  say,  to  declare  that  my  objective  point  herein  and  hereby  is  simply  a  speedy  relea 
imprisonment.  There  remains  now  only  about  a  year  of  the  term  of  imprisonment  to  ' 
was  sentenced,  but  I  desire  to  save,  if  I  can,  this  modicum  of  valuable  time  from  the  w 


99 


y  life  and  devote  it  to  the  needful  work  of  repairing  that  disheartening  wreck  as  far  as  possi- 
e.  Besides,  there  are  peculiar  circumstances,  of  a  painfully  delicate  nature,  some  of  them,  in 
ew  of  which  I  would  seem  callous  to  the  holiest  of  human  emotions  and  be  false  to  the  strong- 
;t  of  earthly  ties,  if  I  failed  to  make  every  proper  effort  possible  to  secure  my  speedy  release 
r  the  sake  of  those  dear  ones  whose  lives  are  by  nature  and  affection,  intertwined  with  mine. 

It  is  necessary,  I  think,  to  premise  a  statement  as  to  certain  circumstances  connected  with 
y  case,  some  of  them  at  the  time  of  trial  and  some  subsequently.  And  of  these,  as  I  shall 
ate  them,  I  humbly  beg  Your  Excellency’s  consideration  in  conjunction  with  what  I  have 
terwards  to  say. 

The  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried  alleged  the  forgery  of  a  public  record  and  specified 
e  offence  as  the  alleged  erasure  of  the  numeral  “  i  ”  in  a  certain  entry  in  the  warrant  book  of 
e  sinking  fund  with  a  fraudulent  intent.  In  proof  that  I  made  the  said  erasure  no  evidence 
latever  was  adduce'1,  save  only  that  of  Col.  Mayo,  who,  directly  against  the  truth,  deposed  that 
fad  confessed  the  fact  to  him.  The  nisi prius  judge  who  presided  at  my  trial  has  stated  in  a 
blished  letter  that  l  would  not  have  been  convicted  “  in  the  absence  of  .Mayo’s  testimony  on 
is  point.”  At  my  examination  at  the  police  court  Gen.  Johnson  was  acting  as  volunteer  counsel 
■  me,  and  to  him  I  pointed  out  incontrovertible  evidence,  in  the  nature  of  a  physical  fact,  cer¬ 
tiorating  my  declaration  that  Mayo’s  testimony  was  atrociously  untrue.  But  just  before  the 
j  y  fixed  for  my  trial  Gen.  Johnson  retired  from  my  defence,  alleging  his  need  to  do  so  in  order 
exculpate  himself  in  a  certain  transaction  mentioned  in  connection  with  my  case,  but  to  which, 
appeared  in  evidence  at  my  trial,  I  was  not  a  party  ;  though  Col.  Mayo  was.  With  Messrs. 
%urnoy  and  Barksdale  who  conducted  my  defence  in  court,  (they,  in  the  emergency  of  Gen. 
mson’s  desertion  having  been  sent  in  haste  to  my  assistance  by  a  friend  at  Danville,)  I  have 
'er  had  any  consultation  about  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  they  remain  to  this  day  in  utter 
orance  of  the  real  facts.  I  was  in  a  reduced  condition  of  body,  mind,  and  spirits,  almost  as 
pless  as  a  child,  and  in  that  condition  was  forced  to  stand  my  trial,  wholly  unprepared.  In 
ir  ignorance  of  the  real  facts,  my  counsel  made  no  real  defence  in  my  behalf,  but  only  attempted 
ecure.my  exemption  from  the  penalty  of  the  law  by  an  ineffectual  “  legal  stratagem  ;  ”  and 
only  question  contested  by  them  was  not  whether  I  was  guilty  of  the  fact  charged  in  the  in- 
ictment?  but  it  was  whether  the  fact  charged  in  the  indictment  was  an  offence  against  the 
?  Not  whether  I  had  made  an  erasure  in  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  with  intent 
efraud  the  commonwealth?  but  whether  the  said  warrant  book  was  a  public  record ,  or  not? 
I  been  in  a  condition  capable  of  directing  my  own  defence,  I  have  no  doubt  I  would  have 
acquitted  ;  as  I  certainly  would  have  been  had  my  counsel  been  in  possession  of  the  real 
and  conducted  my  defence  accordingly. 

Immediately  after  my  trial  a  commission  de  lunatico  inquirendo  adjudged  Col.  Mayo  insatu 
he  was  taken  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  Thereupon  a  new  trial  was  asked  for  me  on  the  ground 
;is  insanity.  That  I  was  convicted  on  his  testimony  was  not  then  denied,  and  if  he  was 
ne  he  was  incompetent  to  testify  and  his  evidence  should  have  been  set  aside.  But  the 
aslii  ion  for  a  new  trial  was  over-ruled,  and,  an  appeal  being  taken,  th  enisi  prius  judge  in  certify- 
'  the  case  to  the  appellate  court  declared  that  Col.  Mayo  was  “  not  laboring  under  mental 
bility  whatever,”  although  “  it  was  evident  that  he  was,  during  the  trial,  drinking  deeply.” 
the  supreme  court  of  appeals  in  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  lower  court  declared  that 
learned  judge  who  presided  at  the  trial  *  *  *  was  of  opinion  that  he  [Col. 

o]  did  possess  the  requisite  share  of  understanding;  and  it  would  require  very  cogent  and 
lusive  proof  to  the  contrary  to  induce  this  court  to  interpose  under  such  circumstances.” 
le  light  of  which  declaration  it  seems  to  me,  Your  Excellency,  that  in  order  “  to  induce  this 
to  interpose”  in  my  case  it  was  required  that  my  counsel  should  adduce  such  “cogent  and 
usive  proof”  against  the  certificate  of  “the  learned  judge  who  presided  at  the  trial”  as 
t  have  been  sufficient  to  sustain  his  impeachment  by  the  legislature  ;  which,  of  course,  they 

1  not  do.  And  thus  my  right  of  appeal  was  virtually  rendered  nugatory  and  of  none  effect, 
might  as  well  have  taken  no  appeal,  but  just  abided  by  the  decision  of  the  nisi  prius  court 

namely,  that  Col.  Mayo  was  not  crazy  but  only  drunk. 

^ong  after  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  had  rendered  their  opinion  affirming  the  jucjgment 

2  nisi  prius  court,  and  I  had  been  long  incarcerated  in  the  penitentiary,  Col.  Mayo,  having 
ned  under  treatment  in  the  lunatic  asylum  about  eighteen  months,  got  better  and  was  then 
ed  for  the  alleged  larceny  of  certain  public  funds  ;  the  charge  against  me  for  that  offence 
g  in  the  meantime  (in  the  absence  of  proof  to  sustain  it)  been  dismissed  by  the  prosecution 

,  ng  nolle  prosequi.  A  jury  being  empannelled  for  his  trial,  they  ascertained  front  the  evidence 
them  that  he  was  itisane  on  a  certain  day  when  it  was  alleged  the  larceny  was  committed 
fit  day  was  but  a  short  time  prior  to  my  trial)  and  that  he  was  still  itisane  many  months 
ffl'ards — at  the  date,  namely,  of  their  verdict.  This  jury’s  verdict  clearly  implies,  I  think, 
■  is  insanity  commenced  at  a  period  prior  to  my  trial,  and  that  it  continued t\W  long  afterwards  ; 
arily  including  the  particular  day  and  hour  when  he  falsely  testified  at  my  trial.  That  this 


1W 

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rat 


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100 


is,  indeed,  the  meaning  of  this  verdict  becomes  entirely  evident  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that 
important  part  of  the  testimony  on  which  the  jury  ascerta'ned  Col.  Mayo’s  insanity,  was  thal 
Gen.  Johnson  who  deposed  that  one  of  the  evidences  of  his  insanity  at  the  time  indicated  ' 
that  he  was  “  incapable  of  making  a  statement  of  facts” — Gen.  Johnson’s  reference  undoubte 
being  to  Col.  Mayo’s  testimony  at  my  trial,  which  Gen.  Johnson  knew  was  false  and  not 
statement  of  facts  ” 

Hut,  whether  Col.  Mayo  was  insane  or  not?  is,  after  all,  a  question  of  fact  which  if  moc 
before  my  trial  would  have  had  a  powerful  effect  upon  my  fate.  I  believe  that  even  a  suspic 
oi  his  sanity  would  have  reversed  the  verdict  of  the  jury  which  convicted  me.  Now,  howe 
since  my  trial  is  all  over  and  there  is  no  way  in  which  this  question  can  be  brought  before  a 
to  try  my  case,  it  is  perhaps  useless  to  discuss  the  subject  further.  Hut  I  think  it  worthy 
conclusion,  to  remark  that  this  question  of  fact  has  been  decided  both  ways  as  a  matter  of  opin 
and  with  the  gravest  consequences  on  each  occasion.  The  nisi prius  judge  who  presided  at 
trial  was  of  opinion  that  he  was  not  insane,  and  in  consequence  of  his  opinion  I  have  bee 
the  penitentiary  ever  since  ;  but  I  have  very  good  reasons  for  believing  that  if  he  were  to  exp 
his  full  opinion  he  would  say  that  Col.  Mayo  never  has  been  insane.  The  verdict  of  the  jut 
Col.  Mayo’s  trial  was  that  he  was  insane,  and  in  consequence  of  their  opinion  he  was  rele: 
from  custody  and  has  been  at  liberty  ever  since;  but  their  opinion  was  based  upon  the  0 
mony  of  many  witnesses  and  made  up  from  the  developments  of  a  special  investigation  ext< 
ing  through  several  days.  For  my  own  part,  I  only  know  that  Col.  Mayo  testified  falsely  at 
trial.  In  my  own  sad  meditations  when  I  try  to  determine  for  myself  whether  to  attributf 
false  swearing  to  insanity  or  inebriety,  I  have  to  choose  between  the  verdict  of  the  jury  and 
opinion  of  the  judge.  I  would  rather  accept  the  verdict  of  the  jury. 

After  the  jury  had  pronounced  Col.  Mayo  insane  (up  to  which  time  I  had  been,  as  I  amt 
hopelessly  enduring  the  hardships  and  humiliations  of  a  convict’s  life)  I  was  allowed  to  pre 
a  petition  for  executive  c.emency  ;  and,  in  doing  it,  prayed  for  relidf  on  the  ground  that 
Mayo’s  insanity  had  now,  at  last,  been  ascertained  by  a  jury ,  according  to  law — the  onjy  w; 
which  it  could  be  lawfully  ascertained — and  as  I  had  been  convicted  on  his  testimony,  it 
demonstrable  that  I  was  not  a  guilty  criminal  but  the  unfortunate  victim  of  a  madman’s  vagt 
This  petition  was  duly  presented  to  Your  Excellency  about  a  year  ago,  and  you  then  reject! 
It  was  Your  Excellency’s  pleasure,  on  rejecting  it,  to  give  your  reasons,  which  were  publi 
in  the  newspapers  ;  and  I  was  indulged  with  permission  to  read  them.  It  appeared  to  me 
Your  Excellency  had  refused  to  pardon  me,  although  I  would  not  have  been  convicted  “  it 
absence  of  Mayo’s  testimony”  because  (as  it  was  represented  to  you  by  the  nisi  prius  judge 
presided  at  my  trial  and  to  whom  my  petition  was  referred)  that  there  was  evidence  at  my 
eaclusive  of  Mayo's  testimony,  going  to  prove  me  guilty  of  the  larceny  of  public  funds  ; 
being  the  alleged  motive  of  the  alleged  forgery.  Believing  that  such  were  Your  Excelle 
reasons  for  refusing  my  prayer  for  pardon,  I  sought  to  obviate  the  difficulty,  and  wdth  an  hu 
hope  of  doing  so,  1  obtained  permission  and  prepared  another  petition  praying  to  be  pare! 
upon  the  condition  that  I  should  be  tried  for  the  alleged  larceny  of  public  funds  and,  if  g 
punished  for  it.  This  petition  Your  Excellency  also  rejected.  I  refer  to  the  subject  here 
with  a  view  of  making  an  humble  explanation. 

Knowing  full  well,  upon  the  testimony  of  a  clear  conscience,  that  1  had  committed  n 
o*ny  of  public  funds,  I  felt  entirely  confident  that  now,  with  restored  health  and  vigor  of 
and  of  mind,  I  should  be  fully  able  to  defend  myself  successfully  against  any  such  alleg 
Nothing,  therefore,  could  afford  me  intenser  satisfaction  than  a  fair  trial  upon  the  real  subs 
of  that  allegation.  And  when  I  prayed  Your  Excellency  to  pardon  me  upon  the  conditioi 
1  should  stand  that  trial,  I  meant  it  in  all  good  faith  and  ingenuous  sincerity.  In  pn 
which  I  beg  to  state  that  fully  expecting  to  be  tried  as  speedily  as  the  case  could  be  gotten  1 
the  court,  and  designing  to  conduct  my  own  defence,  I  had  proceeded  so  far  in  getting  rea' 
the  trial  as  to  prepare  the  instructions  to  the  jury,  which  I  would  ask  the  court  to  give, 
with  enclosed  I  submit  for  Your  Excellency’s  inspection  a  copy  of  the  said  instructions  (m 
A.),  and  I  think  it  will  appear  that  they  are  such  as  the  court  would  not  refuse  to  give, 
course,  have  full  knowledge  of  all  the  facts,  and  intended  to  admit  them  all  before  the  jur 
I  know  that  under  these  instructions  my  acquittal  would  be  certain.  May  I  not  now  in 
the  hope  that  this  humble  explanation  will  receive  Your  Excellency’s  approbation  ? 

But,  to  the  end  that  nothing  in  my  breast  may  be  concealed,  for  I  have  no  desire  to 
the  least  concealment,  1  beg  leave  to  add  a  few  words  further  before  I  leave  this  subject. 

It  is  certainly  true  (and  I  have  never  denied  that),  that,  in  association  with  several  < 

I  did,  while  in  office,  effect  the  exchange  of  certain  “  consols  ”  belonging  to  the  sinkin; 
for  “  peelers”  without  paying  into  the  treasury  any  bonus  on  account  of  said  exchanges 
in  every  instance  in  which  I  did  this  the  operation  was  an  actual  physical  exchange,  on  th 
of  bond  for  bond  of  like  denomination,  and  dollar  for  dollar  of  their  face  value  ;  where 
sinking  fund,  however,  did  not  and  could  not  lose  a  single  cent.  The  theory  on  which  1 


101 


my  conduct  was  that  “consols”  and  “peelers”  both  belong  to  the  same  generic  class  of 
:  bonds,  and  are  equally  valuable  to  the  sinking  fund.  For  the  full  payment  of  each,  prin- 
1  and  interest,  the  good  faith  of  the  commonwealth  is  pledged,  equally  as  to  each  In  con- 
ive  proof,  however,  that  my  theory  was  correct,  I  need  only  point  to  the  fact  that  the  present 
missjoners  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  the  secretary  who  succeeded  me  in  office,  entertain  the 
e  opinion,  and  are  still  acting  upon  it ;  which  fact  is  shown  by  reference  to  their  several 
ral  reports,  published  since  my  incarceration. 

It  is  also  true  (nor  have  I  ever  denied  that,  either),  thal,  although  the  sinking  fund  did  not, 
could  not  lose  a  single  cent  by  means  of  these  exchanges,  yet  I,  and  those  associated  with 
did  gain  some  profit  by  them.  But  this  profit  was  acquired  not  by  reason  of  any  real  sub- 
tial  difference  between  the  intrinsic  values  of  the  two  series  of  bonds  exchanged,  respectively, 
solely  Dy  reason  of  the  speculative  schemes  of  the  brokers  in  the  stock  markets  of  the 
itry.  They  were  speculating  upon  the  good  faith  of  the  commonwealth  towards  her  creditors, 
we  made  a  profit  out  of  their  lack  of  confidence  in  the  people  of  Virginia.  Ought  this 
it  to  have  been  paid  into  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund  ?  I  think  not,  because 
ave  done  it  would  have  made  the  commonwealth  a  gainer  of  money  by  means  of  legislation 
:h  had  engendered  a  distrust  of  her  own  good  faith  and  honest  purpose  towards  a  portion — 
unprotected  portion — of  her  creditors  ;  which  would  have  been  disgraceful, 
ow,  at  my  trial  the  testimony  as  to  these  exchanges  was  very  vague  and  some  of  it  quite 
vocal.  It  was  well  calculated  to  mislead  and  bewilder  the  jury  as  well  as  the  judge.  My 
lsel  were  ignorant  of  the  real  facts,  and  hence  did  not  seek  to  elicit  the  truth  by  cross-exam- 
g  the  witnesses  ;  besides,  I  observed  that  they  were  so  wrapped  up  in  their  scheme  to  secure 
‘•acquittal”  by  means  of  their  brilliant  “legal  stratagem”  that  they  were  unmindful  of 
dy  every  really  important  point  presented  in  the  case.  But  I  am  entirely  confident  that  if 
he  facts  in  regard  to  these  transactions  had  been  laid  before  the  jury  they  would  have  been 
rinced  beyond  a'doubt  and  promptly  have  decided  that  my  conduct  in  the  premises,  if  even 
iUrable,  had  certainly  not  been  criminal.  And — even  if  some,  indeed,  had  judged  that  I  had 
i  in  a  venal  manner,  I  think  that  in  the  light  of  justifying  precedents  and  the  persuasions  of 
kipatyp  my  venality,  even  if  imputed,  would  have  been  considered  venial.* 

I  pass  on  now  to  an  occurrence  of  more  recent  date,  and  I  beg  Your  Excellency’s  patience 
le  longer  that  I  may  briefly  explain  the  same  in  conclusion  of  the  statement  I  desired  to 
;  before  coming  to  the  subject  proper  of  this  letter. 

After  Your  Excellency  had  rejected  my  second  petition,  I  became  hopeless  of  relief  from 
'retched  situation.  About  this  time  it  was  suggested  to  me  that  if  I  would  make  known  the 
i’s  of  the  other  parties  concerned  in  my  transactions,  legal  steps  would  be  taken  against 
and  Your  Excellency  would  pardon  me  in  order  lo  use  my  evidence  for  their  prosecution, 
•st  I  declined  to  entertain  the  suggestion  even  for  a  moment  ;  but  my  wretched  situation 
icially  by  reason  of  a  peculiarly  painful  and  delicate  circumstance)  becoming  every  day 
and  more  intolerable,  I  consented  to  consider  the  matter  and  finally  came  to  the  following 
usion : 

['here  was  no  way  in  which  I  could  now  get  the  facts  before  a  jury  in  my  own  case  and 
i  a  verdict  on  the  question  whether  the  exchanges  of  “  consols”  belonging  to  the  sinking 
for  “  peelers  ”  was  criminal  or  not?  Yet  I  felt  thoroughly  certain  that  if  all  the  facts  could 
ite  gotten  before  a  jury,  they  would  render  a  verdict  in  my  favor.  If  now,  therefore  the 
parties  concerned  in  these  transactions,  having  shared  the  profits,  should  now  be  tried  for 
participation,  I  had  the  same  copfideace  as  in  my  own  case  that  they  would  be  acquitted  of 
riminalitv.  But  such  a  verdict  in  their  case,  on  the  merits  of  the  question,  would  have 
jndous  moral  weight  in  exculpating  me.  With  this  view,  and  with  a  hope  of  a  speedy  lib- 
|n,  I  was  at  last  induced  to  state  the  particulars  of  all  these  transactions,  in  detail,  giving 
mes  of  all  concerned. 

our  Excellency  has  recent  knowledge  of,  and  will  no  doubt  remember,  the  steps  I  took  on 
g  to  this  conclusion  and  I  need  not  rehearse  them  here.  They,  however,  accomplished 
g- 

long  with  a  statement  of  all  the  facts  as  to  these  exchanges  I  also  submitted  a  paper  i* 
ture  of  a  lawyer’s  brief  reciting  the  facts  and  pointing  out  the  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
ony  of  the  second  auditor  at  my  trial,  as  certified  to  the  appellate  court,  was  contrary  to 
1  th. 

y  purpose  in  doing  this  is  humbly  explained  as  follows  :  My  counsel  had  staked  my  cause 

— 

Te.— I  deem  it  only  due  to  myself  to  say  that  I  have  ever  held  myself  bound  to  pay  into  the 
ivtt  fund  the  bonus  on  account  of  these  exchanges,  if  ever  the  same  should  he  adjudged  to  be  due 
.  Winking  fund.  And  l  say  now  that  whenever  this  shall  be  done,  if  ever,  every  cent  of  it  ever 
Sjd  by  me  shall  be  duly  paid.  I  have  looked  upon  the  transaction  as  one  of  business,  that  is  of 
s  t°  principal  from  an  agent,  to  be  determined  upon  a  settlement  of  accounts,  and  altogether 
liilw  if  any  thing /ike  an  animus  furandi.] 


102 


upon  their  "legal  stratagem”  of  showing  tint  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  was  n 
public  record.  And  by  reference  to  that  point  in  reviewing  events,  it  is  now  demonstrable 
my  conviction  and  punishment  resulted  from  the  failure  of  this  scheme  of  their’s.  But  it  wa 
reason  of  the  adverse  decision  of  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  on  that  particular  questio 
issue,  namely,  whether  the  warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  was  a  public  record  or  not? 
my  counsel’s  scheme  did  fail.  But  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  in  forming  their  opinion  u 
this  question  were  necessarily  guided  by  the  matters  of  fact  involved,  as  the  same  were  sum 
up  and  certified  by  the  nisi  prius  court.  Chief  among  these  matters  of  fact,  as  it  seems  to 
which  the  appellate  court  must  have  considered  in  forming  their  opinion  as  to  whether  the 
variant  book  was  a  public  record  or  not,  were  the  facts  as  to  the  character  of  the  said  war 
book  and  the  puqroses  for  which  it  was  kept  and  used.  This,  indeed,  is  very  obvious  from 
text  itself  of  the  appellate  court’s  opinion.  Now,  the  nisi  prius  court,  in  certifying  to  the  aj 
late  court  the  matters  of  fact  involved,  summed  up  those  pertaining  to  the  character  of  the 
warrant  book  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  kept  and  used,  and  specifically  certified  th; 
“  the  second  auditor  testified.”  And  the  appellate  court,  in  rendering  their  decision  that 
warrant  book  of  the  sinking  fund  is  a  public  record,  expressly  indicate  that  their  opinion  is  b 
upon  the  character  of  the  said  warrant  book  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  kept  and  use 
the  same  were  represented  by  the  nisi  prius  court  to  have  been  stated  by  the  second  audito 
his  testimony  at  my  trial.  Now',  therefore,  in  proving,  as  I  pointed  out  the  evidence  to  pro\ 
the  paper  I  submitted,  that  this  testimony  of  the  second  auditor  was  contrary  to  the  trul 
showed  that  I  was  warranted  in  asserting,  as  I  did  in  my  first  petition  for  executive  cleme 
that  "  if  the  real  facts  had  been  certified  to  the  supreme  court  of  appeals  their  decision  w 
have  have  been  the  reverse  of  what  it  was.  Aad  now  I  humbly  beg  permission  submissive 
add  that  if  all  the  real  facts  as  to  the  affdrs  of  the  sinking  fund  and  the  manner  in  whic 
business  was  conducted  were  now'  to  be  fully  and  truly  stated,  it  would  be  evident  to  any  i 
ligent  mind  that  the  commonw  ealth  could  not  be  defrauded  by  any  erasure  that  could  be  r 
in  the  warrant  book  in  question.  Moreover,  in  my  opinion  now,  my  counsel  might  have  suet 
ed  in  the  “  legai  stratagem”  which  they  attempted  at  my  trial,  had  they  themselves  j 
acquainted  with  the  real  facts  and  hence  had  known  how'  to  elicit  the  truth  concerning  the; 
comprehensive  cross-examination  of  the  second  auditor  and  other  w  itnesses.  But,  (it  is  d 
myself  to  say  it,  here)  had  I  been  consulted  and  my  judgment  been  as  capable  as  usual  of 
cerning,  I  never  would  have  consented  to  such  a  scheme  of  “  defence  ”  as  was  attempted  i 
behalf ;  for,  although  it  might  have  saved  me  from  the  torment  of  this  imprisonment,  it  v 
have  left  the  moral  stain  of  guilt  upon  me  as  fully  as  if  I  had  pleaded  guilty  and  sufterec 
penalty  of  the  law. 

Having  now,  as  it  were,  cleared  the  way  of  approach  to  the  subject  proper  of  this  let 
beg  Your  Excellency's  patience  but  a  little  longer  that  I  may  present  a  compendium  of 
facts  as  I  am  confident  will  be  convincing  that  it  would  be  right  and  proper  to  pardon  me. 

I  stated  at  the  outset  that  my  objective  point  is  simply  a  speedy  release  from  this  impi 
ment.  In  making  this  declaration,  I  desire  and  design  most  humbly  to  submit  that,  under 
ing  circumstances,  it  is  not  practicable  for  me  to  prove  that  I  am  not  guilty  of  the  often 
which  I  was  convicted.  To  do  so  would  be  to  virtually  reverse  the  verdict  of  a  jury — a  h 
lean  task  to  the  accused  even  when  circumstances  favor,  but  to  one  in  my  miserable  situ 
harder  than  any  labor  assigned  to  Hercules;  for  he,  at  least,  was  not  shorn  of  his  strengt 
limited  as  to  subsidiary  resources.  But, on  rejecting  my  petition  for  executive  clemency, : 
ago,  Your  Excellency  was  pleased  to  say  that  you  had  examined  the  case  “  with  a  strong  t 
and  purpose  to  grant  a  pardon,”  if  you  could  find  “  ground  to  rest  it  on  and  this  has  encou 
me  to  hope  that  there  may  be  circumstances  in  my  case — unrestricted  by  the  vigorous  ru 
a  court  of  law,  as  you  are,  sir,  in  exercising  the  sovereign  powers  with  which  the  consti 
has  invested  you — which  mav  fulfill  the  required  conditions  of  Your  Excellency’s  merciful 
position  now  in  my  behalf.  With  the  most  humble  and  submissive  spirit  now,  after  a 
further  endurance  of  the  hardships  and  humiliations  of  a  convict’s  life,  I  ask  permiss 
renew  my  prayer  for  executive  clemency,  and  in  doing  so  most  humbly  beg  to  be  allow'ed 
and  show  sufficient  “  ground  to  rest  it  on.”  I  think  it  may  be  likely,  for  it  would  be  bu 
natural,  that  there  may  be  such  grounds  which  may  have  escaped  Your  Excellency’s  obser\ 
pre-occupied  as  you  are,  no  doubt,  by  a  multitude  of  public  matters  whose  demands  upoi 
time  are  too  pressing  to  permit  you  to  devote  much  of  it  to  the  consideration  of  my  un 
case  ;  but  which,  alas,  even  a  glimmer  of  hope  amid  the  gloom  of  wretchedness  which  lil 
'ents  for  me  would  magnify  beyond  the  possibility  of  escaping  the  closer  scrutiny  of  my  q 
ble  meditations,  and 

“  The  patient  search  and  vigil  long” 

of  my  wretched  yearnings  for  relief.  Your  Excellency  was  pleased  to  mention  my  “culti 
and  former  social  position,”  as  circumstances  which  render  my  punishment  “peculiarly  painfu 
these  are  the  circumstances  with  reference  to  which  I  beg  to  state  the  first  point — first,  in  ord 


103 


use  mentioned  by  Your  Excellency,  among  the  grounds  for  pardon  which  I  beg  humbly  to  present 
r  Your  Excellency’s  consideration.  I  beg  leave,  Your  Excellency,  submissively  to  say  that  in  the 
hool  in  which  I  acquired  the  very  cultivation  with  which  I  am  credited  I  learned  that  it  is  the  duty 
a  good  citizen  under  all  circumstances  to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  laws  of  his  country 
administered  by  her  constituted  authorities  ;  and  I  have  never  seen  the  day  when  I  was  not 
lling  cheerfully  to  practice  in  my  own  person  this  precept  of  my  cultivation.  And  I  am  very 
ankful  that  I  am  now  able,  if  Your  Excellency  desire  it,  to  adduce  the  testimony  of  those  who 
ve  been  in  immediate  authority  over  me  ever  since  my  incarceration  that  during-  all  this 
■etched  period— in  many  ways  the  most  trying  period  of  my  life— I  have  never  (to  use  their 
pression)  been  known  “  to  do  or  say  anything  unbecoming  a  highminded  and  honorable  Chri<u 
n  gentleman.” 

I  have  now  been  imprisoned  nearly  a  year  longer  than  the  minimum  term  fixed  by  law  for 
punishment  of  the  offence  of  which  I  was  convicted,  and  considerably  longer  than  the  average 
m  to  which  offenders  convicted  of  like  offences  in  the  courts  in  the  various  parts  of  the  state 
■  generally  sentenced.  In  view  of  my  efforts  during  all  this  term  of  imprisonment  to  lead  such 
.  f  “lat  conduct  might  be  regarded  as  exemplary;  and  in  view  of  the  circumstances  to 
ich  Your  Excellency  adverted,  which  render  my  punishment  “peculiarly  painful  ”  may  I  not 
v  in  my  miserable  situation,  fairly  and  justly  claim  the  benefit  of  any  consideration  which 
.  warrant  justice  in  tempering  my  further  punishment  with  mercy?  Does  not  the  spirit  of 
! institutions  inculcate ,  the  theory  that  in  inflicting  the  penalties  of  the  law  consideration 
uld  be  given  to  the  pmm  damni—  the  punishment  of  loss— as  well  as  the  pa-na  sensus— the 
ushment  of  suffering!  Then,  surely  I  may  submissively  remind  Your  Excellency  that  in 
"lS  -al\  honorable  name  among  my  fellow-men  ;  in  losing  an  honorable  place  in  society  ■  in  losing 
me  cherished  hopes  and  aspirations  of  my  life,  I  have  suffered  more  than  the  extreme  penult* 

he  law  death  itself  could  inflict  on  me.  Ah,  sir,  I  would  cheerfully  encounter  all  the  mere 

~~  '  ‘h  by  that  means  I  might 


sical  har iships  of  a  convict  s  life  for  twenty  years,  or  even  longer, 

- ravel  out  my  weaved-up  follies,” 


start  the  world  afresh  1 

(1  ?y,^U  lh's  terrible  wreck  of  life  which  I  have  suffered  has  not  the  majesty  of  the  law  been 
fied?  And  may  not  mercy  now  interpose  and  plead  with  Your  Excellency  to  exercise  the 
ificent  power  which  the  costitution  has  conferred  on  you,  and  remit  the  remainder  of  m 
isonment .  Surely  the  crime  of  peculation— which  in  its  true  analysis  is  virtually  the  crime 
i ted  to  me— is  not  so  prevalent  in  Virginia  as  to  require  such  extreme  severity  in  inflicting 
11  shment  according  to  the  very  letter  of  the  sentence  in  my  case  as  a  warning  to  deter  other! 
it  Surely  my  previous  life  and  reputation  were  not  of  such  a  character  as  to  make  it  nec 
y  to  use  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  law  in  order  to  adequately  punish  the  first  offence  ever 
-  imputed  to  me  Do  not  indeed,  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  my  case  make  it  one  to 
i  justice  may,  perhaps,  apply  her  maxim:  “  Summum  jus}  summa  injuria?" 

ei!  Vs  Ve/yvfar  desire  to_  P^sent  any  mere  technicality  of  the  law  as  a  ground  on 

«  i  to  ask  Your  Excellency  to  pardon  me.  Yet  there  is  a  notable  point  in  my  case  involving 
instruction  of  a  statute,  which  I  wish  submissively  to  mention  as  worthy  perhaps  of  some 
deration  from  a  legal  stand-point.  The  statute  ro  which  I  shall  refer,  I  think  it  likely  °^s 
11  own  to  mv  roimspl  nt  mv  fml  „ _ t _  ...  •/> 

*i 

:y, 
ng 
ico: 

;S 
nil 
i(u 
era 
mis 
i\ve 
ie 


own  to  my  counsel  at  my  trial,  which  was  the  reason,  I  presume,  that  they  did  not^et'the 
to  quash  the  indictment  on  the  grounds  which  it  presents.  I  am  not  a  lawyer  and  besides 
•  the  circumstances,  I  may  be  prone  to  lean  too  much  m  my  judgment  in  favor  of  myself 
cons  ruction  of  this  statute,  and  it  is.  therefore,  with  the  utmost  submissive  deference  to 
Excellency  s  superior  legal  acumen  that  I  venture  now  most  humbly  to  present  the  subie, I 
■e  from  the  code  of  1873,  chapter  190,  section  22,  as  follows :  P  subject. 

Section  22— If  a  clerk  of  a  court,  or  other  public  officer,  fraudulently  make  a  false  entrr 
se,  alter,  secrete  or  destroy  any  record  in  his  keeping  or  belonging  to  his  office,  he  shall 
ifined  in  jail  not  more  than  one  year,  and  fined  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars  ” 

0Wd  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried  alleged  that  I  was  a  public  officer,  the  “secretary” 
y  of  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund  the  book,  or  record,  alleged  to  be  the  sub 
j PrlJ^e  iruputed  to  me  is  described  as  “the  warrant  book  of  the  said  sinking  fund-” 
e  fact  alleged  is  falsely  and  corruptly  erasing  the  figure  1”  etc.,  etc.,  “with  intent  to  de- 
_  It  seems  to  me,  Your  Excellency,  that  the  specifications  marshaled  in  this  indictment 
j  fsely  such  as  fit  the  case  to  that  class  of  offences  against  the  law  the  punishment  S 
IS  1  for  under  the  statute  I  have  quoted.  And,  if  so,  then,  whether  guilty  or  not  gffilty 
Blk  already  been  excessively  punished  beyond  all  measure  of  the  excess.  g  Butj  as  I  havf  sa  d' 
h  the  most  submissive  deference  that  I  have  ventured  to  introduce  this  point  of  law  and 

JL  V  ^T16,  °  f  any  aFment  Up°n  iC'  but  subm^sively  leave  the  subject,  humb¬ 
ling  Your  Excellency  to  consider  it,  and  feeling  that  I  shall  be  fully  satisfied  if  in  Your 

J^tymarbeeenXdtatl0n  °f  tWs  P°‘nt  °f  law  -“atever  mor'al  weight. 


104 


In  conclusion,  I  beg  Your  Excellency  to  allow  me  to  add  that  there  are  certain  pressing 
cumstances.  of  a  peculiarly  painful  nature  some  of  them,  and  all  of  them  obliged  on  account 
their  nature  to  have  a  life-long  effect  of  the  gravest  importance,  which  render  my  speedy  rele 
essential  to  my  future,  even  comparative,  peace  of  mind  and  usefulness.  ortured  by  these  < 
cumstances  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  to  appeal  to -the  humane  feelings  of  Your  Excellen. 
heart  in  entreating  vou  now  to  exercise  in  my  behalf  the  munificent  power  with  which  you 
invested,  and  terminate  my  sufferings  at  once,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  removing  the  obstruct 
and  allowing  me  a  chance,  without  further  delay,  to  commence  a  manly  struggle  to  redeem 
blighted  prospects  of  my  life-as  far,  indeed,  as  that  can  now  be  done.  At  the  best,  I  shall  h 
to  re-enter  life  at  an  advanced  stage  of  manhood,  penniless  and  comparatively  friendless;  x 
no  accumulation  to  draw  upon  save  that  only  of  a  varied  experience  m  life  ;  virtually  ruinec 
every  human  resource,  and  with  but  little  left  to  sweeten  life  and  encourage  effort  except  s 
hope  of  God's  favor  as  a  chastened  spirit  may  humbly  entertain.  But  these  very  circumstai 
make  even  a  year  of  TIME  in  the  brief  span  of  human  life  inestimably  valuable  to  me,  and 
me  with  distressing  solicitude  now  in  begging  it  of  \  our  Excellency  as  a  mere  item  of  sa 

from  the  wreck  of  my  life. 

Most  respectfully,  Your  Excellency  s 

Very  obedient,  humble  servant, 

WILLIAM  D.  COLEM 


THE  FOLLOWING  ARE  THE  PROPOSED  INSTRUCTIONS  TOT 
JURY,  REFERRED  TO  IN  THIS  PETITION  AS  MARKED  ‘‘A 


Commonwealth 

versus 

William  D.  Coleman. 


Prosecution  for  Larcen 
Public  Funds. 


Proposed  Instructions  to  the  Jury. 

i.  In  a  prosecution  for  larceny,  unless  it  be  proved,  or  admitted,  that  an  actual  los 
been  sustained  by  direct  reason  of  the  fact  alleged  to  be  a  larceny,  the  accused  cannot  l^e 

vie  ted.  ^  anything  she  does,  or  omits  to  do.  the  commonwealth  causes,  or  permits,  hir 
good  faith  and  honest  purpose  towards  her  c-editors  to  be  distrusted  and  to  become  a  subjc 
speculation  it  is  against  sound  public  morals  for  her  to  receive  any  pecuniary  profit  the 
either  directly  or  indirectly  ;  if  she  were  a  citizen  it  would  be  fraudulent  and  unlawful. 

3.  In  a  prosecution  for  larceny,  if  any  state  bonds  be  involved,  their  value  is  then 
value  ;  unless  they  could  be  sold  in  overt  market  for  more  than  their  face  value,  and  then 

value  is  their  market  value.  , ,  ... 

4.  In  the  case  of  a  public  officer  entrusted  with  bonds  issued  by  the  commonwealth  an 
longing  toher:  If  when  duly  called  upon,  he  produce  bonds  of  the  same  generic  char 
though  not  the  same  identical  bonds,  amounting  to  the  same  amount  (the  face  value),  t 

discharged  his  trust.  .1. 

5.  Unless  the  jury  believe  that  the  evidence  proves  that  the  accused  did  actually  tak 
fraudulently  convert  to  his  own  use  some  of  the  bonds  purchased  by  the  commissioners  < 
sinking  fund,  or  transferred  to  the  sinking  fund  by  the  board  of  public  works  (such  bell 
only  methods  by  which  bonds  did  come  into  the  sinking  fund) ;  or  that  he  did,  or  caused 
done,  some  act  which  did,  or  of  necessity,  or  naturally,  might  have  diminished  the  amour 
face  value)  of  said  bonds,  they  must  find  him  not  guilty. 


To  this  letter  Governor  Kemper  never  deigned  to  make  any  response 
if  he  did,  I  never  heard  of  it.  Whether  he  £ver  even  read  it  or  not,  I  d 

know.  .  .  . 

After  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  that  winter  I  was  again  visit 
several  of  the  members,  formerly  personal  friends  of  mine,  who  told  me  of  v: 
efforts  they  had,  unsolicited,  made  in  my  behalf.  I  had  kept  a  copy  of  my 
to  Gov.  Kemper  and  now  showed  it  to  some  of  these  members,  and  they •  U 
The  comment  of  every  one  was  that  if  the  governor  rejected  my  prayer  tor 
as  made  in  that  letter  it  must  be  because  of  a  prejudice  against  me  on  acco 
something  not  embraced  in  the  charge  on  which  I  had  been  tried.  And  < 
these  gentlemen,  I  remember — it  was  Dr.  Henry  E.  Smith,  then  a  member 
house  of  delegates  from  Amherst  county, — took  the  copy  ot  the  letter  awa 


105 


and  kept  it  several  days,  in  order  to  consider  it  carefully.  When  he  brought 
ick,  at  his  next  visit,  he  said  it  hid  deeply  impressed  him,  and  he  had  sought 
nterview  with  Gov.  Kemper  and  tried  to  prevail  upon  him  in  my  behalf;  but 
lout  effect.  He  told  me  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  real  reason  of  the  governor’s 
sal  to  pardon  me  was  that  he  (Gov.  Kemper)  regarded  me  as  “  one  of 
lker’s  pets.”  It  was  true,  indeed,  that  I  had  been  an  ardent  friend  of  Gov. 
lker  both  before  and  after  his  election,  and  he  was  always  a  iriend  to  me  also ; 
I  have  never  been  the  “  pet  ”  of  any  man,  and  I  told  Dr.  Smith  so  on  the 
:.  Gov.  Kemper’s  animosity  towards  his  honored  predecessor  has  been  a 
g  of  public  notoriety,  having  been  evinced  even  in  his  first  message  after  us¬ 
ing  the  gubernatorial  office  ;  but  if  he  allowed  this  animosity  to  blind  him  to 
nse  of  right  and  justice  towards  an  humble  friend  of  Gov.  W  ilker,  so  misera- 
situated  as  I  was  then,  it  would  show  a  pitiful  spite  unprecedented  in  a 
rnor  of  Virginia.  ,  And  I  would  lain  imagine  that  Dr.  S  nith's  opinion  was 
quite  correct,  or,  if  it  was,  that  Gov.  Kemper  was  unconsciously  the  slave  of 
>wn  passions.  But  from  all  the  circumstances  I  beca  me  convinced  that  no 
could  ever  come  to  me  as  long  as  Gov.  Kemper  had  the  power  to  prevent  it 
hasten  now  to  conclude  this  communication.  Having  abandoned  all  hope 
lease  before  the  expiration  of  the  period  for  which  I  had  been  sentenced,  I 
now  to  endure  my  wretched  fate  with  fortitude  and  patient  philosophy.  In 
allowing  spring,  however,  as  I  was  informed,  another  petition,  drawn  by 
sell,  Mr.  Wise,  was  presented  to  Gov.  Kemper  urging  him  to  pardon  me.  It 
signed,  I  was  told,  by  nearly  all  the  conservative  members  of -the  legislature, 
large  number  of  citizens  ot  Danville  and  Pittsylvania  county,  and  also  by 
prominent  citizens  of  Richmond  ;  also  by  a  number  of  ladies  who  had 
y  interested  themselves  in  my  behalf.  But  I  never  saw  this  petition,  was  no 
to  it,  except  in  a  passive  sense,  and,  although  grateful  for  it,  had  no  idea  that 
ild  avail  anything.  Its  only  fruit  was  another  ont-sided  and  unfair  version 
'  case  from  Gov.  Kemper’s  pen,  which  he  embraced  the  opportunity  to  write 
ive  the  newspaper  reporters  for  publication,  to  further  injure  me  in  public 
» 'm. 

’here  was  an  incident  however  in  the  presentation  of  this  petition  which  I 
relate  just  here.  It  was  presented  to  the  governor  by  a  number  of  the 
'),!  jers  ol  the  legislature  in  a  body,  who  were  accompanied  by  Gen  R.  Lindsay 
Capt.  John  A.  McCaull,  and  perhaps  other  gentlemen  kindly  disposed 
s  me.  After  the  petition  had  been  presented  and  when  the  gentlemen  who 
ted  it  were  retiring,  Gov.  Kemper  called  Cant.  McCaull  back  and,  in  effect, 
him  not  to  solicit  my  release  from  prison,  hinting  that  if  I  were  released 
the  then  pending  political  campaign  was  over  I  would  “  use  my  pen  ” 
a  certain  prominent  aspirant  for  the  conservative  nomination  for  governor, 
ame  evening  Col.  William  Powell,  a  member  of  the  legislature  from  Frank- 
nty,  came  to  see  me  at  the  request  of  Capt.  McCaull  and  told  me  what  I 
ist  related.  I  promptly  disavowed  any  such  intention  and  told  Col.  Powell 
vas  ridiculous  to  attribute  such  an  idea  to  a  person  in  my  wretched  situation, 
his  suggestion,  I  put  my  disavowal  in  writing  and,  as  I  have  since  learned,  it 
ivered  to  Gov.  Kemper  next  morning  by  Gen.  R.  Lindsay  Walker.  I  hope 
ed  the  governor  s  apprehensions,  though  before  it  reached  him  he  had 
.  jhe  petition,  and  my  continued  confinement  did  not  secure  the  success  of 
didate  ior  \yhom  he  was  so  solicitous.  Yet,  even  now  I  cannot  but  think 
bsurd  in  the  “'governor  of  the  commonwealth  ”  to  be  afraid  of  the  politi- 
ence  which  might  be  wielded  by  the  pen  ol  “  a  conyict  in  the  penitentiary.” 
pidly  now  I  pass  on  to  the  end  ol  this  communication.  The  term  ol  int¬ 
ent  to  which  I  had  been  sentenced  was  reduced  several  months  for  ‘‘good 


m 

of' 

iw 

eyi 


acd 

ln( 

aibs 

;a« 


106 


conduct”  as  provided  by  the  statute.  Consequently,  it  expired  on  the  26th 
October  last.  A  few  days  before  its  expiration,  my  aged  father  came  to  Ric 
mond  to  welcome  me  back  to  liberty  and  the  dear  ties  of  my  family  again.  1 
had  an  idea  that  he  might  secure  for  me  a  boon,  which  would  be  valuable  to  1 
on  returning  to  the  world  again  ;  and,  with  that  idea,  addressed  the  followi 
letter  to  Gov.  Kemper  : 

LETTER  TO  GOVERNOR  KEMPER  FROM  T.  COLEMAN. 

To  His  Excellency,  James  L.  Kemper,  }  Ricjhmond,  October  25th,  i£ 

Governor  of  Virginia.  j 

Sir : — 

I  have  come  to  Richmond,  from  my  distant  home  in  another  state,  to  get  you  to  consider 
case  of  my  son,  William  IX  Coleman,  in  its  present  aspect.  It  has  not  been  practicable  for 
to  approach  you  in  his  behalf  at  an  earlier  date  because  my  exhausted  resources  have  confii 
me  at  home  in  an  arduous  struggle  to  “keep  the  wolf  from  the  door” — a  struggle  in  which  I  h. 
'adly  missed  the  assistance  of  my  son,  always  liberally  rendered,  whenever  desired,  from  his  b 
hood  up  to  the  hour  when  he  himself  was  made  helpless.  Even  now  I  have  been  enabled 
take  this  step  only  by  making  the  utmost  exertion. 

You  are  a  father  yourself,  sir,  and  were  I  to  indulge  the  feelings  of  my  heart  no  doubt 
would  in  your  own  breast  allow  that  from  the  very  nature  of  a  father’s  affection  for  his  son 
beloved  son  like  mine  who  from  his  very  babyhood,  I  may  say,  has  always  been  affectionate 
his  parenis,  and  whose  filial  devotion  has  made  them  the  sharers  of  every  success  in  life  v 
which  fortune  has  ever  favored  him — I  have  reason  enough  in  the  very  circumstances  of  the  c 
to  feel  something  harder  to  bear  than  ordinary  grief  in  contemplating  the  fate  of  my  son. 
it  is  not  my  purpose  to  permit  any  feeling  of  either  grief  or  bitterness  on  account  of  the  irre 
rable  past  to  appear  in  this  humble  petition  to  Your  Excellency.  I  am  an  old  man,  sir,  alre 
beyond  the  allotted  term  of  “  three  score  years  and  ten,”  and  one  whose  life  has  been  aln 
"  as  full  of  sorrows  as  the  sea  of  sands.”  It  would  be  foreign  to  my  nature  now,  I  trust,  as  v 
as  unnatural  at  my  age  to  harbor  animosities  against  my  fellow  man  or  be  swayed  by  the  sir 
promptings  of  harmful  human  passions.  Yet  am  I  subject  still  to  a  man’s  emotions  so  fa 
least  as  they  relate  to  future  earthly  hopes  and  fears  of  what  may  yet  befall  in  life.  Actut 
by  this  kind  of  emotion  in  approaching  Your  Excellency  now,  I  come  to  beg  your  considera 
of  my  son’s  case  in  its  present  aspect. 

He  is  now  upon  the  eve  of  release  from  his  long  incarceration.  The  period  for  whicl 
was  sentenced  to  a  harsh  and  degrading  punishment  will  in  a  few  hours  be  ended.  So  fa 
the  suffering  of  mere  physical  hardship  fora  term  of  years  can  do  it,  he  has  expiated  his  alle 
offence  against  the  law.  But  there  still  remain  certain  civil  disabili  ies,  as  they  are  called, 
sequent  upon  his  conviction  which  may  follow  and  fetter  him  all  through  life,  unless  Your  Ej 
lency  now  interpose  the  munificent  power,  with  which  the  constitution  has  clothed  you.  for  t 
remission.  I  beseech  Your  Excellency  to  do  so.  I  entreat  that  you  will  now,  only  a  few  h 
in  advance  of  the  moment  of  my  son’s  release  from  his  long  imprisonment  issue  a  pardo 
him,  remitting  the  civil  disabilities  to  which  he  is  still  liable. 

It  were  needless,  I  think,  to  offer  argument  in  support  of  this  petition.  I  will  but  br 
■date  its  object  and  the  grounds  on  which  I  urge  it.  l'he  first,  indeed,  is  obvious.  It  is  tha 
regaining  personal  liberty  he  may  be  afforded  as  fair  a  chance  as  possible  to  redeem  his  blig 
life,  as  far  as  that  can  now  be  done.  This  chance  will  not  be  afforded  him  if  Your  Excel! 
compel  him  to  remain  under  these  civil  disabilities.  They  will  harass  him  at«every  turn  a 
life  s  pathway,  enervate  his  every  effort,  and  perhaps  reduce  him  to  .despondency,  unless  ’ 
Excellency  mercifully  remove  them  now. 

1  he  grounds  on  which  I  venture  to  urge  this  praver  upon  Your  Excellency  are  two-fo 
their  bearing,  namely,  his  previous  high  character  and  his  good  conduct  during  the  whole  pi 
of  his  imprisonment.  The  first  1  might  rest,  perhaps,  upon  Your  Excellency’s  personal  kn 
edge  of  the  fact.  But  to  the  end  that  the  record  may  on  no  point  be  incomplete,  I  submit  1 
with  a  letter  (marked  A)  from  a  distinguished  gentleman  who,  at  the  time  he  wrote,  it  occi 
the  highest  position  in  the  gift  of  the  people  of  Virginia  save  only  the  exalted  station  of 
Excellency.  In  my  son’s  private  correspondence,  comprising  several  hundred  letters  reo 
during  the  decade  preceding  his  imprisonment,  there  is  abundance  of  testimony  on  this  j 
direct  and  inferential,  from  many  of  the  most  illustrious  gentlemen  of  the  period,  but  1 
chosen  this  one  to  submit  with  this  petition  for  the  reason  indicated.  What  it  implies  and 
it  expresses  will,  I  trust,  favorably  incline  Your  Excellency  to  grant  this  petition  and  thus 
my  son  from  the  sad  fate  of  a  political  helot  among  a  people  for  whose  civil  rehabilitatioi 
community  he  has  unsparingly  expended  the  best  efforts  of  his  life. 


107 


As  to  his  conduct  during  his  imprisonment  I  have  been  kindly  favored  by  the  authorities  of 
prison  with  a  certificate  herewith  submitted  (marked  B)  which  I  trust  will  be  sufficient  testi¬ 
ly  on  that  subject. 

Entreating  Your  Excellency’s  prompt  bestowal  of  the  boon  for  which  I  have  herein  prayed 
n>  Very  Respectfully,  Your  Excellency’s 

Mumble  servant, 

T.  COLEMAN. 

EXHIBIT,  MARKED  (A.) 

„  _  “  Fredericksburg,  Oct.  25th,  1871. 

1..  Wm.  D.  Coleman. 

My  Dear  Sir : — 

My  absence  at  the  Synod  at  Lynchburg  prevented  mv  receiving  your  letter 
replying  sooner.  '  1 

l  am  sure  you  credit  me  as  sincere  when  I  say  that  it  would  be  very  gratifying  to  me  to  see 
clerk  of  the  Senate  ;  and  very  gratifying  to  my  feelings  to  give  you  my  personal  aid  in  your 
ts  to  obtain  it,  and  that  I  do  distinctly  recognize  you  as  one  of  the  Virginians  whose  labors 
counsels  in  the  critical  and  imperilled  crises  of  the  state  were  valuable,  and  entitled  to  reco<r- 
n.  But  my  position  towards  the  clerkship  is  an  embarrassed  one.  It  does  not  leave  me  at 
ty.  lor  two  winters,  and  during  arduous  work  I  was  daily  and  hourly  in  intimate  personal 
course  with  Mr.  Davis.  I  conld  not  help  recognizing  and  testifying  to  his  undoubted 
'tency  and  fidelity  arid  value  as  an  officer,  as  well  as  become  personally  attached  to  him  as  a 
1  he  result  of  this  is  that  I  do  not  feel  that  I  could  (or  ought  to)  take  ground  against  his 
ction  even  in  favor  of  one  whom  I  deem  worthy  of  the  place,  and  would  be  glad  to  aid 
icuring  it.  & 

his  is  the  “  fix  ”  I  am  in.  I  know  your  generous  and  honorable  nature  will  appreciate  mv 
rightly,  and  that  I  am,  ' 

Sincerely  Your  Friend, 

JNO.  L.  MARYE,  Jr.” 

EXHIBIT.  MARKED  (B.) 

l  “  Virginia  Penitentiary,  Richmond,  October  24th,  1877 

William  D.  Coleman  has  been  under  my  immediate  supervision  ever  since  his  incarceration 
take  pleasure  in  testifying  to  his  invariable  good  conduct,  and  faithful  performance  of 
luty  assigned  him. 

J.  F.  MEENLEY, 

Officer,  in  Charge,  Ward  No.  3." 


Seing  employed  as  guard  in  Ward  No.  3,  I  have  had  daily  observation  of  William  D 
n  and  I  fully  concur  with  Mr.  Meenley  in  the  above. 


WM:  T.  WHITE.” 

fe,  the  undersigned,  officers  of  the  Virginia  Penitentiary  concur  in  the  above  statement. 

C.  P.  CROSS, 

M.  W.  STROTHER, 

W.  P.  SEAY, 

D.  S.  CATES, 

J.  W.  AYRES.” 

father’s  communication  to  Gov.  Kemper,  was  accompanied  by  the  fol- 
unsolicited  letter : 

“  Richmond,  October  25th,  1877. 

.  Kemper,  City. 

Sir :  This  will  be  handed  you  by  Mr.  T.  Coleman  (the  father  of  W.  D.  Coleman), 
man  I  have  known  for  forty  years,  and  know  him  to  be  a  most  estimable  man.  He 
you  with  a  petition  asking  that  you  will  pardon  his  son  (whose  time  expires  to-morrow,) 
hich,  I  understand,  will  relieve  him  of  the  disabilities  incurred,  As  good  may  come  to 
jtiould  it  be  your  pleasure  to  grant  the  favor,  I  trust  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  grant  it 
*  1  great  regards,  I  am,  & 

Yours  truly,  A.  Y.  STOKES.” 

S.  I  have  written  this  letter,  at  my  own  suggestion,  from  the  interest  I  feel  in  his 

A.  Y.  S.” 


108 


When  seeking-  the  governor  to  present  these  papers,  mv  father  was  acem 
panied  by  Col.  A.  S.  Butord  and  Hon.  Charles  Campbell,  old  li  lends  ot  his,  \\1 
as  1  have  understood,  joined  him  in  his  petition.  My  father  his  since  toM  n 
that  Gov.  Kemper  put  him  off  with  the  suggestion  that  my  “  disabilities  ”  cor: 
be  relieved  at  any  time  after  my  release,  even  years  afterwards  ;  but  took  t 
papers  and  promised  to  11  consider  them.  Just  before  the  expiration  ot  1 
term  of  office,  as  I  afterwaids  learned  from  the  secretary  of  the  commonweal! 
he  had  them  filed  in  the  exe  rutive  office,  marked  “  refused.  Prom  whicl 
infer  that  what  1  conceive  was  the  bitterness  of  the  ex-governor's  dispositi 
towards  me  remained  unabated  even  to  the  end  of  h.s  public  life.  ^1  hope  he  1 
not  ret  lined  it  in  the  retirement  ot  private  citizenship  to  which  he  has  be 

returned.  .  ... 

It  is  pleasing,  and.  I  think,  but  proper,  to  add,  in  this  connection,  that,  si i 
this  communication  to  you,  Mr.  Wise,  was  prepared,  His  Excellency ,  Goveri 
Holliday  has  executed  and  caused  to  be  sent  me  an  instrument  removing  all  i 
political  disabilities  to  which  I  might  be  liable,  and  restoring  me  to  all  the  lig 
and  privileges  of  a  citizen.  This  was  done  without  any  petition  from  me,  thou 
probably  prompted  by  friends,  and  its  graciousness  has  made  it  all  the  m< 
gratifying  to  my  feelings.  On  receiving  it,  1  sent  the  lollowing  response  t )  1 
Excellency : 

LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM  D.  COLEMAN  TO  GOVERNOR  IIOLLIDAY. 


I  “Danville,  July  6th,  iSyi 

His  Excellency.  F.  W.  M.  Hollidvy, 

Governor  of  Virginia: 

Sir:  -From  the  orfice  of  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth,  I  have  had  the  hono 
receiving  an  instrument,  executed  by  Your  Excellency,  removing  the  political  disabilities 
which  I  was  held  in  consequence  of  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  at  my  trial  for  an  alleged  forgi 
fn  the  hustings  court  of  the  city  of  Richmond,  at  the  April  (should  be  March)  term  thereof 
the  year  1874,  and  restoring  me  to  all  the  righls  of  a  citizen. 

I  beg  Your  Exte’lency  to  believe  me  cordially  grateful  for  this  exercise  in  my  favor  of 
munificent  power  with  which,, under  their  organic  law,  the  people  of  Virginia  have  clothed  y 
and  I  hitmblv  pray  the  Supreme  Ruler  that  by  no  act  of  mine  may  \  our  Excellency  ever  1 
Occasion  to  regret  having  extended  this  gracious  relief  to  me. 

I  tut,  whilst  thanking  Your  Excellency  with  a  very  grateful  heart,  I  humbly  beg  leave  to 
a  reference  to  a  certain  point  in  my  unhappy  case,  mention  of  which  in  this  connection, 
possibly  be  important  to  me  at  some  future  day,  should  life  be  spared  me.  1  he  point  is  bi¬ 
as  follows:  1  he  specifications  of  the  ofience  imputed  to  me  and  marshaled  in  the  indictn 
on  which  I  was  tried  are  precisely  such  as  fit  he  case  to  that  class  of  offences  against  the  law 
punishment  for  which  (even  if  I  had  been  guilty)  is  prescribed  by  the  provisions  of  chapter 
section  22,  of  the  code  of  1S73.  So  that,  whether  guilty  or  not  guilty,  I  had  not  incurred 
political  disabilities  as  the  same  are  prescribed  by  the  constitution,  because  the  fact  with  w 
I  was  charged  in  the  indictment  on  which  I  was  tried  was  a  misdemeanor  and  not  a  felony. 
«t  some  future  day,  it  be  practicable  to  procure  the  enactment  of  an  act  of  assembly,  or  the 
sage  of  an  ordinance  of  a  sovereign  convention  to  expurgate  the  record  of  the  court  in  my  1 
I  presume  Your  Excellency’s  munificence  in  rehabilitating  me  now,  by  executive  action,  w 
rtot  debar  me  from  the  benefit  of  such  an  act  of  assembly,  or  such  an  ordinance  of  a  sovei 
convention. 

Reiterating  my  heartfelt  gratitude  to  Your  Excellency,  I  am. 

Very  Respect fu  ly, 

Your  Excellency's  Obedient  Servant, 
W.M.  D.  GOLEM 

You  will,  therefore,  please  take  notice,  Mr.  Wise,  that,  in  making  this  c 
munication  to  you  now.  1  am,  by  virtue  of  Governor  Holliday's  action,  exe 
ing  the  same  rights  and  may  be  held  to  the  same  responsibilities,  under  the 
as  any  other  citizen  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia.  1 

1  have  now  brought  my  sorrowful  story  to  an  end.  In  concluding  it,  I 


109 


iulgence  but  for  a  moment  to  refer,  subjectively,  to  that  wretched  period  oi  my 
:  which  I  passed  in  captivity.  Conscious  that  I  had  committed  no  crime,  I 
lected  that  this  degradation  was  undeserved  and  endeavored  to  bear  it  with 
iRTITUDE,  which  is  the  twin-brother  of  valor.  When  my  native  state  was 
/aded  I  volunteered  as  a  private  soldier  to  defend  her  people  from  oppression, 
d  then,  in  battle,  evinced  enough  of  the  latter  to  secure  the  unsolicited  recom- 
mdation  of  my  whole  regiment  for  my  promotion  from  a  sergeantcy  to  the 
ik  of  a  field  officer  ;  and  now  that  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  had  made  it  my 
e  to  suffer  oppression  in  my  own  person,  under  the  forms  of  law,  as  adminis- 
•ed  by  the  agents  of  the  same  people,  I  humbly  bowed  to  the  will 
God  and  schooled  myself  to  the  exercise  of  the  former.  At  all  times  deem- 
r  it  the  duty  of  a  good  citizen  to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  constituted 
thorities  of  his  country,  I  governed  myself  accordingly,  and  at  the  end  received 
2  following  certificate : 

A  CERTIFICATE. 

W.  D.  Coleman  has  been  employed  in  the  Weave  Shop  ever  since'his  incarceration  in  the 
litentiary  andhas  been  daily  under  my  immediate  eye.  I  have  found  him  at  all  times  care- 
ty  and  faithfully  attentive  to  his  duties,  performing  his  labor  with  diligence  and  remarkable 
11.  As  to  his  conduct,  I  have  never  known  him  to  do  or  say  anything  that  would  be  unbe- 
aing  in  an  honorable  and  highminded  Christian  gentleman. 

J.  F.  Meenley, 

Officer  in  charge,  Ward  No.  3. 

Being  employed  as  guard  in  the  Weave  Shop,  I  have  had  daily  observation  of  W.  D.  Cole- 
1,  and  I  fully  concur  with  Mr.  Meenly  in  the  above. 

WM.  T.  W HITE. 

Ah,  sir,  it  is  true  nowr,  as  it  was  two  hundred  years  ago  when  Lovelace  sang : 

“Stone  walls  doe  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  barres  a  cage  ; 

Mindes  innocent  and  quiet  take 
That  for  an  hermitage.” 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Wise,  I  would  earnestly  renew  the  solicitation  1  made 
you  at  the  outset.  I  have  now  returned  to  my  native  city,  and  resumed  the 
ation  (that  of  a  newspaper  editor)  in  which  I  commenced  life  on  the  same 
t  when  but  a  boy.  Encouraged  by  the  kindly  regard  of  old  friends  and  kin- 
d  I  have  recommenced  life  among  them.  Whatever  may  be  thought  as  to 
former  connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund  of  the  commonwealth, 
eems  to  be  generously  admitted  that,  whether  guilty  or  not  guilty  of  the 
nee  imputed  to  me,  I  have  suffered  enough  to  be  forgiven. 

1  One  thing,  at  least,  to  be  accomplished  by  this  publication  will  afford  me  a 
|ly  and  grateful  satisfaction:  It  is  that  it  will  prove  to  these  generous  friends 
i  I  never  committed  the  crime  for  which  I  have  been  made  to  suffer  so  much 
!tchedness  ;  and  that  in  adversity  and  under  oppression  1  have  borne  myself, 
lal,  in  such  a  manner,  I  trust,  as  not  to  forfeit  their  respect  and  kind  regard, 
i  But  the  fraud,  or  rather  the  larceny,  by  which  the  commonwealth  has  lost 
isands  of  dollars  by  the  “  double-funding  ”  of  her  bonds  had  no  connection 
i  the  affairs  of  the  sinking  fund,  and  was  not  revealed  until  after  I  had  suffered 
^miserable  fate.  But  now  this  larceny  is  imputed  to  me,  or  at  least  a  partici- 
Jpn  in  it.  I  therefore  respectfully  demand  that  you,  Mr.  Wise,  as  the 

Iecuting  officer  of  the  law,  shall  direct  the  attention  of  the  grand  jury  to  this 
set.  It  I  am  guilty  let  me  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law  ;  if  I  am  not  guilty 
le  be  judicially  vindicated. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  Your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM.  D.  COLEMAN. 


no 

ADDENDUM, 

It  is  but  proper  to  explain  the  delay  in  the  publication  of  this  communicatic 
It  is  due  to  causes  altogether  beyond  my  control.  It  was  written  and  I  have  an 
ously  and  earnestly  striven  to  get  it  published  months  and  months  ago  but  coi 
not  do  it  a  day  earlier  than  the  present.  I  trust  that,  with  this  explanation,  t 
tardiness  of  its  appearance  will  not  be  permitted  to  prejudice  its  consideiation. 


WILLIAM  D.  COLEMA 


ERRATA. 


On  page  27,  in  the  eighteenth  line  from  the  bottom,  in  place  oi  “  Rise  1 
Decline  of ‘the  Roman  Empire”  read  “  Decline  and  Fall,”  etc.  The  inteliig 
reader  will  easily  correct  for  himself  the  few  other  errors  in  the  typography 


Tr>i  nl  fi.  - 

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Vol.21 

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